JANUARY 16, 2010
KING’S MEN IMPROVE TO 4-1 IN LEAGUE PLAY WITH 67-57 TRIUMPH OVER WILKES
WILKES-BARRE – Kevin Conroy scored a game-high 22 points and the King’s College men’s basketball team won the battle at the foul line as the Monarchs posted a hard-fought 67-57 Freedom Conference victory over cross-town rival Wilkes Saturday in Scandlon Gymnasium.
With the win, King’s improved to 8-8 overall but elevated its league mark to 4-1 with the win. Wilkes, meanwhile, slipped to 9-6 and 1-4 in Freedom Conference play with its third straight league loss.
King’s, which lead from start to finish, jumped out to a 8-2 lead thanks to a pair of three-pointers from Mike Wagner and Nick Reisig, along with a lay-up from Jim Schule. Wilkes eventually fought back to close to within 10-8 on a Tom Kresge jumper at the 12:32 mark. A three-pointer by Matt Fiorino upped the lead to 16-10 and later, a Conroy basket down low gave the Monarchs a 18-12 advantage with 7:39 on the clock.
Wilkes closed to within four points twice, the last coming at 3:54 on a Kendal Hinze foul shots, but the Monarchs used a three-pointer , then two foul shots from Reisig to push the score to 26-17 with 2:06 remaining on the clock. Wilkes countered with a three-pointer by Matt Meier at 1:46, but Conroy made one-of-two free throws to give King’s a 27-20 lead at the break.
In the second half, King’s would maintain lead fluctuating from six to nine points until Conroy scored four straight points to push the score to 43-30 with 12:02 to play. Wilkes mounted a 13-3 run to cut the score to 46-43 with 8:36 left in the contest but King’s quickly reestablished itself. A runner in the paint by Stackhouse, a pair of foul shots from Wagner, and four consecutive points by Conway enabled King’s to rebuild the lead to 54-43 with 6:11 remaining.
Wilkes made one final push and drew to within 59-52 at the 2:47 mark on a three-pointer by Meier, but the Monarchs made six straight foul shots, four by Stackhouse, who also made a driving layup with 0:34 left to give the Monarchs a 67-55 lead with 0:34 to play.
King’s shot 46.5 (20-43) percent from the field and 50.0 (7-14) from three-point range. The Monarchs also converted 20-of-33 from the foul line, led by Conroy who made good on 10-of-17 charity tosses.
Wilkes shot 40.7 (22-54) percent from the field but struggled from the three-point line in making just 21.1 (4-19) percent from beyond the arc. Wilkes also hurt itself by making only 9-of-20 foul shots in the game.
Conroy, who was 6-of-12 from the field, added eight rebounds, four assists, and four steals to pace the Monarch attack. Reisig followed with 11 points and eight rebounds while Stackhouse added 11 points and four assists. Wagner contributed with 10 points and two assists while Fiorino chipped in with eight points.
Kresge topped Wilkes with 18 points and six rebounds. DeRojas followed with nine points and three assists while Chris Gulla added eight points and three assists.
The Monarchs return home Wednesday with an 8:00 p.m. matchup with Misericordia University in Scandlon Gym. The game will be broadcast by Fox Sports Radio-The Game. The broadcast will be available to listeners throughout the region on Fox Sports Radio at 1340 AM in Wilkes-Barre, 1400 AM in Scranton, and 1280 AM in Berwick. The game will also be voice streamed over the Internet at www.thegame-radio.com.
KING'S COLLEGE 67, WILKES 57
WILKES (9-6/1-4 Freedom)
Tom Kresge 8-18 1-3 18; Chris DeRojas 4-13 0-0 9; Chris Gulla 2-5 4-8 8; Matt Meier 2-4 0-1 6; Anthony Gabriel 2-6 1-2 5; Tyler Breznitsky 1-3 2-2 4; Cliff Richardson 2-4 0-2 4; Kendall Hinze 1-1 1-2 3; Aaron Dombrosky 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 22-54 9-20 57.
KING'S COLLEGE (8-8/4-1 Freedom)
Kevin Conroy 6-12 10-17 22; Nick Reisig 3-8 2-2 11; Kyle Stackhouse 3-6 5-10 11; Mike Wagner 3-4 2-2 10; Matt Fiorino 3-3 0-0 8; Jim Schule 1-4 1-2 3; Mike McCready 1-2 0-0 2; Adam Brasky 0-0 0-0 0; Dan Maguschak 0-4 0-0 0. Totals 20-43 20-33 67.
Wilkes........................ 20 37 - 57
King's……................. 27 40 - 67
3-point goals--Wilkes 4-19 (Matt Meier 2-3; Chris DeRojas 1-6; Tom Kresge 1-4; Tyler Breznitsky 0-1; Anthony Gabriel 0-2; Chris Gulla 0-3), King's College 7-14 (Nick Reisig 3-7; Matt Fiorino 2-2; Mike Wagner 2-3; Dan Maguschak 0-1; Jim Schule 0-1). Fouled out--Wilkes-None, King's College-None. Rebounds--Wilkes 35 (Anthony Gabriel 13), King's College 35 (Nick Reisig 8; Kevin Conroy 8). Assists--Wilkes 13 (Tom Kresge 4), King's College 13 (Kyle Stackhouse 4; Kevin Conroy 4). Total fouls--Wilkes 22, King's College 18. Technical fouls--Wilkes-None, King's College-None. A-975