NOVEMBER 18, 2006
KING'S MEN FACING SUSQUEHANNA IN TOURNEY FINAL
SELINSGROVE -- Josh Robinson, a transfer from
Division I Drake University, scored 52 points to lead host Susquehanna
University to a 98-97 overtime victory over King's College in the
championship game of the Pepsi/Weis markets Tip-Off Tournament Saturday
in Selinsgrove.
With the win, Susquehanna improved to 2-0 while King's slipped to 1-1.
King's would take a 39-38 lead into the half-time
break as the team traded the lead eight times while the contest was tied
an additional six times.
In the second half the Monarchs would muster a 47-42 lead on a pair of
foul shots from bob Nenstiel with 16:07 left but a three-pointer from
Robinson and a bucket by Brad Okanak would tie the game for the 10th
time at 47-47 with 15:22 remaining.
King's would use a 6-0 surge on a three-pointer from Jim Welsh and a
traditional three-point play by Jamie Cousart to take a 53-47 lead with
14:44 remaining. Susquehanna would counter with a 8-0 run to gain a
55-53 advantage in a Robinson trey with 13:23 on the clock. After
Susquehanna built a 64-59 lead on a three-pointer by Andy Gaebel with
11:03 left, the Monarchs would tie the game for the 11th time at 64-64
on a Vince Scalzo bucket at the 9:25 mark.
The game would continue to be close and with the score tied at 76-76,
John Soboleski would give the Monarchs a two-point lead on a pair of
foul shots, followed by a Cousart lay-up as King's took a 80-78 lead
with 2:25 left.
But Robinson and Gaebel hit back-to-back three-pointers to give the
Crusaders a 82-80 lead with 0:54 left. With Susquehanna leading
84-81 with 0:16 left, Jim Welsh made two foul shots for King's to bring
the Monarchs to within 84-83. King's would then foul Robinson, who made
the second of two foul shots as Susquehanna held on to a 85-83 lead with
0:15 left. King's would send the game to overtime when Cousart
scored on a drive to the basket with 0:04 on the clock.
King's would eventually take a 93-90 lead when Nenstiel made one-of-two
foul shots, but Robinson knotted the game for the 18th time with a
three-pointer with 1:58 remaining. After a King's miss, Scalzo was
called for a foul on the rebound attempt and Gaebel made the second of
two charity tosses to give the Crusaders a 94-93 advantage with 1:24
left. After a King's miss, Joel Patch would score for Susquehanna
to up the advantage to 96-93 with 1:03 on the clock. Scalzo was fouled
and made one-of-two attempts to cut the lead to 96-94 with 0:50
remaining.
Susquehanna would miss but Gaebel rebounded was then fouled with 0:13
left. Gaebel would hit one of two shots to give the Crusaders a 97-94
lead. After Welsh missed a three-pointer for King's, Bryan majors
was fouled and made one-of-two attempts as Susquehanna led 98-94 with
0:02 left. Cousart would hit a three-pointer for King's at the
buzzer to end the contest.
Robinson was 17-of-28 from the field, 7-of-14 from three-point
range, and 11-of-13 from the foul line to post the second-highest point
total in Susquehanna history. Gaebel followed with 14 points.
Cousart led King's with 20 points and seven rebounds while Welsh also
totaled 20 points with five boards. Kofi Dwebeng tallied 18 points with
five assists while Scalzo and Nenstiel chipped in with 13 and 11 points
respectively for the Monarchs.
King's will make its home debut Tuesday at 8:00 p.m. against Albright
College in a rematch of a 2005 NCAA Division III National Tournament
game won by the Monarchs.
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