The Bulldogs (14-6, 5-5 Freedom) entered the day as the best shooting team in the Freedom Conference by a wide margin but the Monarchs (14-7, 8-2 Freedom) made a case for themselves as they torched the nets at a 59.3 percent clip in the second half and shot 45.8 percent (11-of-24) from three-point land in the win.
The Monarchs have now won four straight in the series and three straight in Billera Hall, a place where the Bulldogs have typically dominated in Freedom Conference play. The win also moves King’s into sole possession of first place with just two weeks left in the conference schedule by virtue of Wilkes University losing for the third straight time, 93-84, at Delaware Valley College on Saturday afternoon.
With DeSales leading 15-10 at the 10:48 mark of the first half, King’s went on a 15-2 run to build an eight point lead, 25-17, with 6:28 to go in the opening half and never really looked back. Freshman Shawn Swim nailed a three-pointer to start the run and sophomore Jim Welsh had two triples to highlight the run.
The lead swelled to 10 points before halftime before back-to-back three-pointers from junior Sedale Walton and sophomore Eddie Ohlson helped the trim advantage to seven points entering the locker rooms.
The second-half was all King’s as they shot 59.3 percent and DSU made just 32.4 percent of its shots. A 10-0 run mid-way thru the second half pushed a seven-point lead up to 17 points, 51-34, and the Bulldogs never got closer than 13 the rest of the way.
Sophomore Phil Stricker was the lone bright spot for the Bulldogs, recording his fifth double-double of the season with 22 points and 11 rebounds. Ohlson totaled 10 points and junior Steve Kriczky had nine points off the bench.
Junior Bob Nenstiel totaled a team-high 14 points off the bench to lead King’s, sophomore John Soboleski had 13 points and six rebounds and sophomore Vince Scalzo totaled 13 points in the win.