FEBRUARY 21, 2007
TOP-SEEDED KING'S MEN RALLY PAST FDU TO POST 83-74
SEMI-FINAL WIN, WILL HOST CHAMPIONSHIP SATURDAY
WILKES-BARRE -- Jamie Cousart scored 16 of his
team-high 24 points in the second half to lead the King's College men's
basketball team to a 83-74 comeback victory over FDU-Florham in a
Freedom Conference semi-final pairing Wednesday in Scandlon Gymnasium.
With the win, King's improved to 18-8 on the year and advances to the
Freedom Conference title game on Saturday where the Monarchs will host
DeSales University at 3:00 p.m. The game will be televised via
tape delay at 8:00 p.m. on WQMY-TV.
Third-seeded DeSales moved on with a 62-60 upset win over second-seeded
host Scranton Wednesday evening. FDU, meanwhile, fell to 17-9.
FDU was brilliant in the first half and led by as many as 16 points on
two separate occasions, the last coming with 4:10 on the clock on as
inside bucket by Brian Rimol gave the Devils a 38-22 advantage.
But King's would use an 11-3 surge, keyed by five points from Ryan
Nenstiel, to close to within 41-33 at the break.
The Devils, who made eight three-pointers in the first half alone,
continued their solid play and held a 52-42 lead with 16:28
remaining on a pair of foul shots from Ryan McPherson. But the
Monarchs would chip away and used a 13-3 run to tie the score at 55-55
with 11:46 on a basket by John Soboleski, a pair of foul shots by Jamie
Cousart, and a bucket from Ryan Nenstiel that knotted the score.
But FDU would use one-of-two foul shots from Schmitt, a three-pointer by
Frank Emslie, and another basket from Schmitt to take a 61-57 lead with
8:46 remaining.
But King's would remain composed and countered with a 15-1 run, keyed by
back-to-back three-pointers from Ryan Nenstiel, and three-pointers by
Vince Scalzo and Kofi Dwebeng to build a 72-62 lead with 2:43 on the
clock. FDU would draw within seven points, at 78-71 on a basket by
Schmitt with 0:36 left but four straight points form Dwebeng
sealed the win.
Cousart was 8-of-15 from the field and 7-of-10 from the foul line while
pulling down a team-high 10 rebounds and distributing six assists. Ryan
Nenstiel tallied 17 points while Dwebeng netted 13. Scalzo added nine
points and four assists while Bob Nenstiel chipped in with four points
and seven rebounds.
Schmitt finished with a game-high 26 points for FDU while registering
seven rebounds. Brian Dillon and Ryan McPherson added 19 and 18
points respectively but no other Devil scored more than six points.
King's did an admirable defensive job on Emslie the Freedom Conference
Player of the Year who was held to six points on 2-of-9 shooting.
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