JANUARY 23, 2017

KING'S MEN FALL SHORT AGAINST MUHLENBERG IN 60-59 HEARTBREAKER

WILKES-BARRE — Dan Rutecki's game-winning jumper rolled off the rim as time expired as the King's College men's basketball team continued its frustrating second semester as the Monarchs dropped a 60-59 decision to visiting Muhlenberg College in a non-conference game Monday night in Scandlon Gymnasium.

In defeat, King's fell to 4-13 on the year while losing its 11th straight game.  Muhlenberg, meanwhile, improved to 9-7.

King's trailed 31-29 at the half and after the Mules came out of the break with a three-pointer by Jon Schreer, the Monarchs fell behind by five.  The Mules eventually built a 45-37 lead on an inside bucket by Jeanlee Baez with 12:01 remaining.  The Monarchs hung close and closed to within 49-45 with 8:51 on the clock following a three-pointer by Tyler Millan. After the teams traded one-of-two free throw efforts, King's used five straight points by Millan to cut the score to 52-51 with 5:29 remaining.

Muhlenberg answered with two foul shots from Owen McLeod and one-of-two from Baez to forge ahead 55-51 at the 2:42 mark. King's countered with a short jumper from Rutecki to cut the score to 55-53 with 3:26 left. After the teams traded misses, the Monarchs missed out on an opportunity to tie the game when Connor Callejas converted one-of-two free throws to bring the score to 55-54 with 2:42 on the clock.

But Muhlenberg drew a foul on the ensuring possession and Matt Gnias made both charity tosses to put the Mules ahead 57-54 with 2:19 to go. After a Monarch turnover, Muhlenberg made it a 60-54 game when Schreer canned a three-pointer at 1:42.  On the ensuing possession Rutecki snared an offensive rebound off a miss and scored on a put-back to bring King's to within 60-54 with 1:20 on the clock. After the Monarchs forced a turnover, Rutecki came through with a bucket and foul shot to trim the Mule lead to 60-58 with 0:41 remaining.

After a King's timeout, Schreer missed a jumper for Muhlenberg and the Monarchs rebounded with 0:14 to play.  From there the Monarch were unable to find a open look and Rutecki lofted an off-balance shot from 10 feet out that bounced off the rim at the buzzer as King's was forced to swallow yet another bitter defeat.

The Monarchs shot just 38.2 (21-55) percent for the game but played solid defense in limiting the Mules to a 35.6 (16-45) percent shooting night and forced 21 turnovers. King's, however, gave the game away at the foul line.  The Monarchs made just 45.0 (9-20) percent from the charity stripe, compared to 85.2 (23-of-27) percent for Muhlenberg. It was the second time in the last three games the Monarchs shot under 46-percent from the foul line for the game.

King's was paced by Rutecki with 18 points and seven rebounds while Millan followed with 12 points on the strength of 2-of-4 from three-point range.  John Fazzini added eight points while Callejas added seven.

Muhlenberg was led by Baez with 12 points and five rebounds. Schreer and Nick Rindock added nine apiece. The Mules also owned a 41-33 advantage in rebounding.

King's returns to Freedom Conference play Wednesday night at 8:00 PM at DeSales University in Centre Valley.  The game will be televised live by Service Electric Cable in both the Lehigh Valley and Scranton/Wilkes-Barre areas.