JANUARY 20, 2016

MISERICORDIA MEN DOWN KING'S 91-88 IN OVERTIME

WILKES-BARRE — Jason Kenny made four free throws over the final 1:15 of overtime to break an 85-85 tie as the Misericordia University men's basketball team picked up a 91-88 victory over host King's College in a Freedom Conference matchup Wednesday night in Scandlon Gymnasium.

With the win, Misericordia improved to 9-7 overall and 3-2 in league play while King's slipped to 8-8 and 2-3.

With the game tied at 80-80 entering extra time, Misericordia took a quick 83-80 lead on a three-pointer by Griffin Sponaugle. King's used a pair of foul shots from Chris Fazzini to cut the score to 83-82 with 3:50 to play After James Hawk scored down low to push the Cougars ahead 85-82, the Monarch tied the score when John Fazzini buried a three-pointer to tie the game at 85-85 with 2:01 on the clock.

After a Misericordia miss, King's was unable to take advantage as the Monarchs turned the ball over on it's ensuing possession, From there Kenny was fouled and converted both shots to put Misercordia ahead 87-85 with 1:15 remaining.  King's had a chance to tie the score but Tom Heston missed the second of a two-shot foul to bring the score to 87-86 with 0:50 to play.  Misericordia stretched the lead to 89-86 when Erik Kerns hit a jumper with 0:36 left. The Cougars would then foul and Connor Hughes went to the line and made both free throws to trim the lead to 89-88 with 0:22 to go. King's quickly fouled with 0:21 left and Kenny made two more foul shots to push the lead to 91-88.  King's missed two shots over the final seconds, including a three-pointer by Chris Fazzini with 0:04 left as Misericordia walked away with an important road victory.

The game was closely contested throughout. King's took a 40-37 lead into the halftime break in an opening stanza that saw five lead changes and two tie scores.  The second half saw more of the same with seven more lead changes and four tie scores.

King's built the biggest lead of the game for either team with 8:19 left in regulation when Chris Fazzini made good on two foul shots to push the score to 66-58. But eh Cougars went on a 11-2 run to take a 69-68 lead after a three-pointer by Tyler McGarry.  King's eventually held a 80-78 lead after Heston made one-of-two from the foul line with 0:20 to play in the second half.  But Kenny countered with two free throws with 0:13 on the clock to tie the score at 80-80, sending the game into overtime.

Kenny led all scorers with 33 points, including 13-of-15 from the foul line and six assists. Kerns added 15 points and seven rebounds wile James Hawk and Sponaugle chipped in with 11 and 10 points respectively.

King's was paced by Heston with 21 points and eight rebounds while Chris Fazzini and Hughes added 17 points apiece. John Fazzini finished with 14 point in the contest.

King's is slated to return to the court Saturday with a 3:00 p.m. game at Manhattanville College in Purchase, N.Y. The game could be at risk for rescheduling due to the potential for snow in the region.