DECEMBER 9, 2017

KING'S MEN'S BASKETBALL FALL TO SCORCHING HOT LYNCHBURG 131-64

WILKES-BARRE — The Lynchburg College men's basketball team put on a shooting performance rarely witnessed as the visiting Hornets posted a dominating 131-64 victory over host King's College in the championship game of the FNCB Bank/Monarch Classic Saturday in Scandlon Gymnasium.  With the win, Lynchburg improved to 5-4 on the year while King's slipped to 4-5.

Lynchburg made six of its first seven shots in the game to race out to a 14-0 lead over King's after just 3:53 of play. It was a sign of things to come.

The Hornets made nine three-pointers in the first half and the Monarchs would get no closer than 13 points the final 9:34 of the opening frame as Lynchburg built a commanding 59-37 lead at the halftime break.

For as well as Lynchburg played in the first half, the Hornets were even better in the second stanza, shooting 27-of-42 from the floor over the games final 20 minutes, including an astounding 71.4 (15-21) percent from three-point range. Lynchburg outscored King's in the second half 72-27.  

Lynchburg scored 45 of their second-half points by way of three-pointers. At one point the Hornets made six consecutive three-point shots and 9-of-10 from long range. In all, 13 different Lynchburg players made at least one three-pointer and 17 players reached the scoring column.

All told, Lynchburg shot 58.5 (24-41) percent from three-point range and 57.1 (48-84) percent from the field.

Brett Buisson earned tournament most valuable player honors for Lynchburg after scoring a game-high 27 points on 7-of-10 shooting from three-point land. Luke Romeo added 15 points while Logan Seacrest added 14 points and a trio of three-pointers. Austin Wrighten, who earned a spot on the all-tournament team, and Cody Lang chipped in with 11 points each.

King's was paced by Chris Fazzini who scored 11 points to earn an all-tournament berth while Connor Callejas netted eight points to also receive all-tournament honors. James Willis also scored eight points while Lenny Radziak chipped in with seven points.

King's shot 34.8 (16-46) percent from the floor and 17.4 (4-23) percent from three-point range. The Monarchs also committed 23 turnovers compared to 12 for Lynchburg and the Monarchs were outrebounded in the game by a 53-23 margin.

Lynchburg's 131 points were the most ever allowed by King's in program history, surpassing the previous high of 119 points to St. Francis University in a 119-59 defeat in the 1952-53 season. The 67-point defeat was also the largest margin of defeat in King's history, replacing the previous high margin of 60 points to St. Francis in the same game.

King's will now be idle until the Monarchs compete in the Louis Fleming Basinger Memorial Tournament at Lycoming College December 29-30 in Williamsport