NOVEMBER 18, 2017

KING'S MEN FALL TO ALBRIGHT IN SUSQUEHANNA TRAILWAYS TITLE GAME

SELINSGROVE-- Albright College shot 51.4 percent in the first half to build a 42-34 lead at the break and never trailed in the second half as the Lions posted a 79-67 victory over King's College in the championship ship game of the Susquehanna Trailways Tipoff Tournament Saturday at Susquehanna University.

With the win, Albright improved to 3-0 while King's slipped to 1-1 while playing in the Susquehanna tourney title game for the sixth straight year.

King's jumped out to an early 9-5 lead thanks to five points from Joshua Bailey and four by Joe Lonardi.  Albright countered with a 13-2 run to build an 18-11 lead with 12:44 left in the half after a driving lay-up by DeJuan Smith. King's responded with a 6-1 spurt to close to within 19-17 after a short jumper by Chris Fazzini and two foul shots from Connor Callejas with 10:38 on the clock.

After Albright pushed the lead to 25-20, the Monarchs used a traditional three-point play from Bailey, then a long-range three-point bomb from the sophomore guard, to close to 25-23 with 6:53 to play in the half. After an Albright turnover, Bailey was fouled and made one-of-two free throws to cut the gap to 25-24 and Fazzini scored inside to give the Monarchs a 26-25 lead with 5:45 remaining in the opening stanza. Albright, however, countered with a 17-8 surge the rest of the way to go into the locker room with a 42-34 lead.

In the second half, the Monarchs  came out of the gates with an 8-4 spurt to cut the lead to 46-42 at 17:01, but Albright again went on another run, outscoring King's 11-0 over the next 4:55 of play to build a 57-42 lead with 12:06 left in the contest. King's would draw no closer than 11 points the rest of the way.

Bailey led King's with a career high of 17 points with four assists while hitting on 3-of-6 from three points range. Callejas added 15 points and was named to the all-tournament team after a 29-point effort in Friday's tournament opener. Fazzini added nine points and nine rebounds while James Willis tallied eight points and four boards off the bench. 

Smith posted 17 points with seven rebounds to earn tournament most valuable player honors. Jared Rappoport added 21 points and 16 rebounds to pace the Lions in the title game.

King's will make its home debut Monday with a 7:00 PM game against Clarks Summit University in Scandlon Gymnasium.