NOVEMBER 19, 2016

KING'S MEN FALL TO SUSQUEHANNA IN TIP-OFF TOURNEY FINAL, 78-65

SELINSGROVE -- The host Susquehanna university men's basketball team broke open  close game at the half with a 13-4 run to start the second half as the River Hawks posted a 78-65 victory over King's College in the Pepsi Tip-Off Tournament Saturday in Selinsgrove.  

With the win Susquehanna improved to 2-1 on the year while King's slipped to 2-1.

King's hung tough with Susquehanna, an NCAA national tournament qualifier, for the first 20 minutes of play as the Monarchs trailed 37-33 at the half. John Fazzini and Dan Rutecki paced King's with eight and five points respectively in the opening half.

But the River Hawks came out of the locker room and used a bucket by Tyler Hoagland and four straight points from Ryan Traub to build a 43-35 lead just 2:26 into the second half.

After Andrew Hudak scored inside for King's, Susquehanna countered with five consecutive Hoagland points and a Steven Weidlich jumper to forge ahead 50-37 with 16:00 to play.

Susquehanna eventually built a 24-point lead when Weidlich canned a three-pointer to push the score to 72-48 with 7:31 on the clock.

Connor Callejas paced King's with 11 points and six rebounds while John Fazzini  tallied 10 points and two rebounds. Hudak posted 11 points and eight rebounds while Rutecki added nine points and seven boards to earn a spot on the all-tournament team. Jake Barber registered eight points and two assists to also gain a spot on the all-tournament team. Tyler Millan chipped in with seven points while Chris Fazzini added six.

Susquehanna was led by Weidlich, who earned tournament most valuable player honors after netting 31 points. Ryan Traub followed with 16 points and seven rebounds to gain an all-tournament spot.

King's returns home Tuesday with a 7:00 p.m. home matchup against Drew University.