FEBRUARY 13, 2016

KING'S MEN FALL TO HOT-SHOOTING MISERICORDIA 79-68

DALLAS --- The host Misericordia Univerity men's basketball team put on an impressive display of long-range, shooting, canning 17 three-pointers, as the Cougars posted a 79-68 victory over King's College in a Freedom Conference matchup Saturday in Dallas. 

With the loss, King's slipped to 11-12 overall and 5-7 in the Freedom Conference while the Cougars improved to 13-10 and 7-5 with two games remaining in the regular-season.

King's jumped out to a quick 5-0 lead after a three-pointer by Connor Hughes and a bucket by Dan Rutecki.  After the Monarchs went ahead 9-5 after a Rutecki jumper, Jason Kenny hit a three-pointer to cut the lead to 9-8 with 15:23 remaining in the first half. After a Kenny layup put the Cougars ahead 10-9, Chris Fazzini canned a three-pointer to put the Mnarchs on top 12-10 at the 13:17 mark.

Misericordia, however, responded with back-to-back treys from Erik Kern as the Cougars built a 16-12 lead with 11:50 to play in the opening stanza. Misericordia would then use a 6-3 spurt to forge ahead 22-15 after a Tyler McGarry three-pointer with 9:18 on the clock. But the Monarchs countered with a lay-up from Rutecki, a pair of foul shots by Nate Oliver, and an inside bucket from Derek Wilkins to trim the lead to 22-21 with 7:22 on the clock. 

After the teams traded misses on four straight possessions, King's recaptured the lead when Hughes caned another three-pointer at the 6:09 mark to give the Monarchs a 24-22 lead.  But the lead did not last long as the Cougars drained two more three-pointers to build a 28-24 lead. 

After Misericordia extended the lead to 35-26 after an inside basket by James Hawk with 2:58 on the clock, the Monarchs got a jumper from John Fazzini, two Rutecki free throws, and a three-pointer from Hughes to climb back to within 35-33 with 1:13 left in the half. But the Cougars would take a 37-33 lead into the locker room when D.J. Marlow scored at the buzzer.

In the second half Misericordia slowly extended the lead to 49-39 with 14:58 remaining after yet another three-pointer by Stone McGeary but Hughes responded with his fourth trey of the day to cut the lead to 49-42 at the 14:26 mark. But the Cougars used a 7-1 spurt to push the lead to 56-43 with 12:21 on the clock after a Marlow lay-up.

But the Monarchs battled back and closed to within 65-63 with 4:04 left after a jumper by Chris Fazzini and a Hughes three-pointer. But King's would come no closer as Misericordia outscored the Monarchs 14-5 the rest of the way to secure the victory.

Misericordia shot an remarkable 53.1 (17-32) from long range and 51.8 (29-56) overall. The Monarchs shot well from long range, making nine shots from down, their third highest single-game total of the season, but were no match for Misericordia's long-range prowess.

Hughes led King's with a career-high 21 points, including a career-best seven three-pointers. Rutecki followed with 13 points and 13 rebounds while John and Chris Fazzini contributed with 12 and 11 points respectively.

Misericordia was paced by Marlow with 26 points, including four three-pointers. Kenny followed with 11 points with two three-pointers while McGeary and Sponaugle contributed nine points on three treys apiece.

With two games remaining the Monarchs remain alive in the Freedom Conference Tournament hunt.  King's is tied for fifth with Eastern, a 101-74 home winner over Manhattanville. Both teams trail fourth-place Wilkes (6-6), which lost 72-60 at Delaware Valley on Saturday, and Manhattanville (6-6). 

King's hosts second-place Delaware Valley on Tuesday at 8:00 p.m., then travels to face Wilkes on Saturday. Eastern travels to face Misericordia on Tuesday before hosting first-place DeSales on Saturday. Wilkes travels to play last-place FDU-Florham Tuesday before hosting King's Saturday. Manhattanville hosts both Misericordia and DeSales it its last two games.