NOVEMBER 17, 2017

KING'S MEN'S BASKETBALL OPENS AT HOME WITH 91-76 WIN OVER CLARKS SUMMIT

WILKES-BARRE — Freshman Noah Tanner and senior Connor Callejas combined for 41 points and the King's College defense forced 30 Clarks Summit University turnovers as the Monarchs won their 2017-18 home debut with a 91-76 victory Monday night in Scandlon Gymnasium.

With the win KIng's improved to 2-1 on the year while Clarks Summit slipped to 1-1.

King's took an early 9-5 lead after 4:42 of play but the Defenders responded with a 14-6 surge build a 19-15 advantage with 9:34 left in the first half. But the Monarchs countered with a 20-8 run to take a 35-27 lead with 5:20 remaining in the half after five straight points by Tyler Millan.

After Clarks Summit trimmed the lead to 37-31, King's used a three-pointer by Callejas and a steal and lay-up by Tanner to push the score to 42-31 with 2:22 on the clock. The Monarchs eventually built their biggest lead of the half when a driving lay-up by Tanner upped the score to 46-33 with 0:46 left. Brion Elliott canned a three-pointer with 0:36 to go to bring the Defenders within 46-36 at the break.

In the second half Clarks Summit slowly chipped away and outscored King's 22-9 over the first 7:26 of the final frame to close to within 58-55 after a three-pointer by Myron Preston with 12:34 to play.

But the Monarchs recaptured the momentum following a three-pointer by Tyler Millan and a driving lay-up from Josh Bailey. From there, Tanner took over and scored the next 15 points for King's as the Monarchs capped a 23-3 run to open a 78-61 lead with 7:11 to play.

Clarks Summit would come no closer than 87-76 with 2:15 remaining as King's walked away with a 15-point victory.

Tanner posted a career-high 21 points on 8-of-11 shooting and a trio of three-pointers while Callejas followed with 20 points with four three-pointers and four assists. Callejas also upped his collegiate scoring total to 932 points.  Millan added 12 points and three assists while Tony Maloney and Joe Lonardi registered nine points apiece. Bailey tallied eight  points and three assists   

Elliott led Clarks Summit with a game-high 26 points while John McCloskey and Myron Prescott added 18 and 10 points restively.

King's will return to action Saturday and Sunday with the Cross County Challenge at the University of Scranton. King's will play Scranton Saturday at 3:00 PM before facing Marywood Sunday at 3:00 PM