FEBRUARY 3, 2007
KING'S MEN HOLD OFF DESALES 73-70 TO ASSUME
SOLE POSSESSION OF FIRST-PLACE IN FREEDOM CONFERENCE
WILKES-BARRE -- The King's men's basketball made
an eight-point lead with 8:24 remaining stand up as the Monarchs held
off a DeSales University rally to post an important 73-70 victory
Saturday in Scandlon Gymnasium.
With the win, King's improved to 14-7 overall and 8-2 in the Freedom
Conference while DeSales slipped to 15-6 and 6-4. The victory also
moved the Monarchs into sole possession of first-place in the Freedom
Conference following Scranton's 79-72 upset loss at FDU-Florham, also on
Saturday.
In the first half, DeSales led 10-8 but used an 10-2 surge to build an
20-10 lead with 11:49 remaining following a pair of three-pointers
by Eddie Ohlson and baskets by Ed Lapinski and Matt Zwetolitz. King's
would slowly chip away and cut the lead to 30-29 following back-t-back
three0pointers by Kofi Dwebeng and Vince Sobocinski with 3:53 left in
the half. After a Zwetolitz bucket gave the Bulldogs a 32-29
advantage, King's used a 9-0 run, keyed by five straight points by Bob
Nenstiel as the Monarchs took their first lead of the game at 37-32 with
1:15 remaining in the opening stanza.
DeSales, however, would answer with a bucket by Lapinski with 0:52 left,
followed by a big three-pointer from Darnell Braswell with 0:03
remaining to send the teams into the halftime break deadlocked at 37-37.
In the second half DeSales quickly recaptured a 41-40 lead on
consecutive baskets by Phil Stricker and Steve Kriczky, but the Monarchs
countered with a 6-0 spurt thanks to a bucket from Dwebeng, a
three-pointer by Sobocinski, and one-of-two foul shots by Vince Scalzo
as the Monarchs led 46-41 with 15:37 remaining.
The Monarchs would eventually built the eight point leads on three
separate occasions, the last coming when a Welsh bucket gave King's a
59-51 lead with 10:10 on the clock. The Bulldogs would use six
straight points to close to within 59-57 on a Steve Kriczky bucket with
7:53 left, but he Monarchs would respond with a 10-6 spurt to build the
lead back to 69-63 with 2:50 left after four straight foul shots from
Jamie Cousart.
DeSales would battle back, eventually cutting the lead to 71-70 with
just 0:16 after four straight foul shots from Stricker. Following
Stricker's charity tosses, the Monarchs were unable to inbound the ball
and were whistled for a five-second count, giving DeSales the ball under
the King's basket with 0:16 still remaining.
DeSales would miss two consecutive shots before Sobocinski rebounded and
was fouled with 0:01 left. The Monarch senior made both free throws to
up the lead to 73-70. DeSales had one last chance to send the game
into overtime but Lapinski launched a desperation shot from near half
court that fell well short as the Monarchs held on for the all-important
victory.
Dwebeng led King's with 15 points and four rebounds while Cousart added
13 points, six rebounds, and eight assists. Nenstiel followed with 12
points while Sobocinski tallied 11 points.
Braswell and Kriczky netted 15 points each to lead DeSales while
Stricker and Zwetolitz followed with 10 each.
King's returns to action Wednesday when the Monarchs host Lycoming at
8:00 p.m. in Scandlon Gymnasium.
KING'S COLLEGE 73, DESALES UNIVERSITY 70
DESALES UNIVERSITY (15-6/6-4 Freedom)
Steve Kriczky 6-14 1-1 15; Darnell Braswell 5-7 0-0 15; Phil Stricker
3-7 6-8 12; Matt Zwetolitz 5-8 0-0 10; Eddie Ohlson 3-3 0-0 9; Ed
Lapinski 3-8 1-2 7; Sedale Walton 1-3 0-0 2. Totals 26-50 8-11 70.
KING'S COLLEGE (14-7/8-2 Freedom)
Kofi Dwebeng 5-12 3-3 15; Jamie Cousart 4-12 5-6 13; Bob Nenstiel 5-7
0-0 12; Vince Sobocinski 3-4 2-2 11; Vince Scalzo 4-8 1-3 9; John
Soboleski 2-5 2-4 6; Jim Welsh 2-6 0-0 5; Ryan Nenstiel 1-3 0-0 2; Jared
Black 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 26-58 13-18 73.
DeSales University............ 37 33 - 70
King's College................... 37 36 - 73
3-point goals-DeSales University 10-23 (Darnell Braswell 5-6; Eddie
Ohlson 3-3; Steve Kriczky 2-9; Ed Lapinski 0-3; Matt Zwetolitz 0-2),
King's College 8-21 (Vince Sobocinski 3-4; Kofi Dwebeng 2-2; Bob
Nenstiel 2-3; Jim Welsh 1-5; Ryan Nenstiel 0-2; Jared Black 0-1; Vince
Scalzo 0-1; Jamie Cousart 0-3).
Fouled out--DeSales University-None, King's College-None.
Rebounds-DeSales University 26 (Matt Zwetolitz 7), King's College 32
(John Soboleski 8).
Assists-DeSales University 21 (Eddie Ohlson 9), King's College 18 (Jamie
Cousart 8).
Total fouls-DeSales University 17, King's College 13.
A-675
.
