Wilkes-Barre, PA (January 22, 2011) – Freshman Mike Coleman hit a three-pointer with 1:01 left giving the DeSales University men's basketball team a 78-75 lead and eventually the win as the Bulldogs came back from 19 points down with just over 11 minutes to go in the second half to earn an 81-77 win over King's College in Freedom Conference action on Saturday afternoon.
Down 19 points twice with the last coming at the 11:43 mark, the Bulldogs (12-5, 4-3 Freedom) used a 26-5 run over the next seven minutes, taking their first lead of the game (71-69) on a three-point play from sophomore Brett Moyer with 4:28 left to play.
The run started with eight straight free throws over a span of 2:29 and saw six players score during the run led by seven points from Moyer and six points from Coleman.
King's tied the game at 71 one possession after DSU took its first lead but four straight points from senior Brian Hunter gave DSU a 75-72 edge before senior Kevin Conroy re-tied the game for the Monarchs on a three-point play with 1:30 remaining.
Hunter drove the left side of the lane, fell down, but kept his dribble and kicked the ball out to Coleman who drained a three giving DSU the three-point cushion. A jumper from Conroy was followed by one free throw from freshman Matt Poorman as King's had one shot to try and tie the game with 23 seconds left.
A Conroy hook shot was short and junior Jamey Bercier was fouled on the rebound. Bercier, just 5-for-13 from the line coming into the game, knocked down both free throws with 1.9 seconds left giving DeSales the important road win.
Hunter had a terrific game, scoring a team-high 19 points, grabbing eight rebounds, dishing out seven assists, and swiping three steals for the Bulldogs (12-5, 4-3 Freedom). Coleman finished with a season-high 15 points and also had four assists.
Moyer totaled 12 points and grabbed six rebounds, sophomore Brian Kerwin added 10 points and junior Bob Zanneo tossed in 10 points off the bench to round out the five players in double figures for DeSales. Poorman also played well off the bench with seven points and five rebounds.
Conroy had 24 points, 16 in the second half, and freshman Kyle Hammonds totaled 20 points and seven rebounds to lead King's (9-7, 3-4 Freedom). Matt Fiorino also reached double figures with 11 points and Kyle Stackhouse had seven rebounds and six assists in the loss.
King's was on fire in the first half, opening up a 17-6 lead on the strength of three treys and after the Bulldogs battled back to tie the game at 30 on a 15-3 run, the Monarchs hit three more three's over the final four minutes of the half to take a 41-35 lead into the locker room.
KC could do no wrong in the first half canning 9-of-13 three-pointers (69.2%) to hold that six-point halftime edge. The Monarchs continued to be on fire from three early in the second half, hitting twice more from long range to open up the 19-point lead before making just one more trey over the final 12 minutes during the Bulldogs comeback.
DeSales finished the game shooting 46.6 percent from the field and was a sensational 19-of-21 (90.5%) from the free throw line in the win. The Monarchs cooled a bit in the second half shooting just 41.9 percent to finish at an even 50 percent for the game.
The Bulldogs get a rest from Freedom Conference play as they travel to Widener University for the final non-conference game of the season on Wednesday beginning at 7:30 pm.