News Release

MADISON, NJ — Junior center John Soboleski (Ashley, PA/Hanover Area) hit two free throws with 3.6 seconds left and junior guard Jamie Cousart (Holland, PA/Holy Ghost Prep) added another free throw with 1.9 seconds remaining to help King’s break a 75-75 tie and beat the College at Florham Devils, 78-75, on Saturday afternoon.

With the loss, the Devils dropped to 12-5 (4-2 Freedom Conference).

King’s jumped out to a 13-4 lead with four minutes gone by in the game thanks to eight points from Cousart. FDU cut it to 18-15 with 12:57 left in the first half before King’s went on an 11-5 run to stretch their lead back to 29-20 with 9:44 left. The Devils cut the Monarch lead to one point on three different occasions, the last coming with 0:35 remaining on a three point play by sophomore forward Andrew Biancosino (Edison, NJ/JP Stevens), but King’s took a 42-41 lead into halftime.

FDU came out on fire to start the second half, going on an 11-0 run to take a 52-42 lead with just 3:05 gone by. Senior guard Brian Dillon (West Orange, NJ/West Orange) and senior center Brian Rimol (Randolph, NJ/Randolph) each had four points in the spurt. The Devils stretched their lead to 16 points, 67-51, with 11:39 left on a layup by senior guard Frank Emslie (Hazlet, NJ/Raritan). After a three pointer by sophomore guard Brandon Matano (Honolulu, HI/Paramus Catholic) game FDU a 72-58 lead with 8:54 remaining, the Monarchs dug in and didn’t allow another FDU point until 1:20 left in the game. During that span, King’s went on a 14-0 run to tie the game at 72-72. Rimol hit a free throw to put FDU up one, 73-72, but Kofi Dwebeng (Voorhees, NJ/Eastern) came down for King’s and hit a jumper to give them their first lead since halftime. Cousart hit a free throw with 0:31 left to give the Monarchs a 75-73 lead, but Emslie responded for the Devils when he sunk two foul shots of his own to tie the game at 75-75. King’s inbounded the ball and ran the clock down to 0:03 before Soboleski got fouled and hit two free throws. Cousart stole the inbounds pass and sank one of two from the line. Dillon got a clean look to tie the game at the buzzer but the shot went long enabling King’s to get the victory.

“Today was a hard fought game between two good teams, we didn’t make enough shots down the stretch and didn’t get enough key stops defensively in order to win the game,” said assistant coach Bill Zotti. “We know we have to execute better offensively late in games when teams are making a run at us. Give King’s credit for playing well defensively down the stretch to come away with the win.”

Cousart led King’s with 20 points, eight assists and seven rebounds while junior forward Vince Scalzo (Shickshinny, PA/Northwest Area) added 16 points. Dwebeng had 10 points and Soboleski finished with nine points and eight rebounds.

Emslie led the way for the Devils, scoring 14 points and grabbing eight rebounds. Sophomore guard Ryan McPherson (West Orange, NJ/West Orange) also had 14 points while Biancosino came off the bench to score 10 points. Senior forward Pierre Schmitt (Park Ridge, NJ/Park Ridge) finished with 12 points.

The Devils return to action on Wednesday, January 24, 2007, at Wilkes beginning at 8 pm.