KING'S MEN HOLD OFF SCRANTON RALLY, 75-72 to FORGE FIRST PLACE FREEDOM TIE
SCRANTON -- The King's College men's basketball team held an 18-point lead early in the second half, only to see the host University of Scranton rally to take to the lead. But the Monarchs would hold on for a critical 75-72 Freedom Conference victory Wednesday in the John Long Center.
With the win, King's improved to 13-7 overall and forged a first-place tie in the Freedom Conference with Scranton at 7-2. The Royals, meanwhile, slipped to 16-4 on the year. The victory also gave the Monarchs the season series sweep over Scranton, including s 75-69 win over the Royals on November 29 in the first meeting between the teams.
King's began the game on fire and built a quick 12-0 lead on the strength of two three-pointers from Kofi Dwebeng and another from Vince Sobocinski. The Monarchs would eventually build the lead to 29-13 thanks to three-pointers from Dwebeng, Jim Welsh, and Bob Nenstiel, combined with a short jumper by Sobocinski with 6:14 left in the half.
After Scranton cut the lead to 32-25 on a three-pointer by James Powell with 3:32 remaining in the opening stanza, the Monarchs closed out the half with an 8-2 run, thanks to a pair of three-pointers by Welsh and two foul shots from John Soboleski as King's took a 40-27 lead into the break.
In the second half, Dwebeng made good on a short jumper while Scalzo followed with a three-pointer to give King's a commanding 18-point lead at 45-27 lead with 18:45 left in the contest.
But the Royals would chip away by outscoring King's 34-16 over the next 12 minutes and eventually tied the game at 61-61 on a traditional three-point play from Randy Arnold with 7:52 remaining.
After a King's miss, Scranton would take its first lead of the contest at 62-61 with 7:30 left when Tom Bicknell made one-of-two foul shots. After the teams traded scoring over the next four minutes, Scranton took a 76-65 lead on a three-pointer by Ryan Fitzgerald with 3:32 left. King's countered when a Jamie Cousart lay-up knotted the score at 67-67 with 3:02 on the clock.
Scranton answered when Darren Cannon made one-of-two foul shots to give the Royals a 68-67 lead with 2:40 left, but Cousart followed with another driving lay-up with 2:19 remaining as King's recaptured a 69-68 lead. Dwebeng would then come up huge when he stripped Arnold of the ball and canned a huge three-pointer with 1:27 left as King's slim lead stretched to 72-68. After a Scranton miss, Cousart was fouled and made the first of-two attempts to give King's a 73-68 lead with 0:53 on the clock.
After Cannon made one-of-two foul shots for the Royals, cutting the King's lead to 73-69 with 0:46 left, Cousart was again fouled and made one-of-two charity tosses for a 74-69 Monarch lead with 0:41 remaining.
After Cannon missed a three-pointer for Scranton, Scalzo hauled in the rebound and was fouled, making one-of-two attempts to give the Monarchs a 75-69 advantage with 0:31 on the clock.
Paul Hawk would then nail a three-pointer to bring Scranton to within 75-72 with 0:17 left. After a King's miss, Scranton would rebound with an opportunity to tie the game. But an ensuing loose ball and mad scramble for possession with the clock winding down resulted in Arnold tossing up a desperation three-pointer from 30 feet at the buzzer that fell short as King's held on for the dramatic victory.
Dwebeng led King's with 16 points and three assists while making 4-of-5 from three-point range. Sobocinski followed with 14 points and four rebounds while Welsh finished with 12 points on four three-pointers. Scalzo tallied 10 points and eight rebounds while Soboleski added eight points and a team-high 10 rebounds. Cousart chipped in with eight points and eight assists while Bob Nenstiel netted seven.
Paul Biagioli led Scranton with 16 points while Powell followed with 12. Bicknell registered 10 points and 13 rebounds while Fitzpatrick added 10. Arnold finished with seven points and seven assists.
King's returns to action Saturday when the Monarchs host DeSales University at 3:00 p.m. in Scandlon Gymnasium