DECEMBER 29, 2017

MONARCH MEN'S HOOPS FALL TO CARNEGIE MELLON IN WILLIAMSPORT

WILLIAMSPORT, PA --- The King's College men's basketball team fell to Carnegie Mellon University 80-68 on Friday night in Williamsport on the opening night of the Louis Fleming Basinger Memorial Tournament hosted by Lycoming College.

The Tartans used a 13-4 run over a span of 3:30 in the middle of the second half to break open a close game and improve to 4-5 overall. The Monarchs fell to 4-6 with the loss.

Both teams got off to a slow start offensively in the first five minutes. Carnegie Mellon scored the first two baskets of the game before King's held the Tartans without a field goal over a three-minute span to even the score at five after a trey from Joshua Bailey. Carnegie Mellon responded with the next four points on a layup and two free throws on their next two possessions. The King's defense continued their strong play and held the Tartans to just one made field goal over a five-minute span. The Monarchs took their first lead of the game with 10:41 remaining in the half when Connor Callejas knocked down a jumper to give King's a 14-12 advantage. Callejas then scored the next two buckets of the game to give King's their largest lead of the half with an 18-12 advantage with 9:29 left. The Tartans responded with an 8-0 run to retake the lead at 20-18 with 7:38 remaining in the half. The teams traded buckets until Bailey powered through being fouled on a layup and then knocked down the shot from the line to give King's a 35-32 lead with 32 seconds left. Carnegie Mellon knocked down a jumper to cut the lead to 35-34 at the half.

Bailey opened the second half with a three-pointer to give the Monarchs a four-point cushion. The Tartans scored the next seven points to take a 41-38 lead with 16:25 on the clock. Chris Fazzini knocked down two free throws and then Dan Angelo found him open under the basket for a layup to give the Monarchs back the lead with just over 14 minutes left. The teams traded buckets on the next couple possessions until Fazzini scored a bucket with 11:53 remaining to cut the Tartan lead to 47-46. Carnegie Mellon responded with a 13-4 run over the next few minutes to open up a 10-point lead with 8:39 remaining in the game. The Monarchs fought hard to cut into the advantage but were unable to get any closer than nine points to rest of the way.

Connor Callejas led the Monarchs with 25 points, including a perfect 9-for-9 at the free throw line, and five rebounds. Chris Fazzini added 10 points and Joshua Bailey had nine points and a career-high six rebounds. King's shot 33.8 (22-65) percent from the field and 23.3 (7-30) percent from long range.

Carnegie Mellon used their noticeable size advantage to outscore King's 52-24 on points in the paint and outrebound the Monarchs 46-40. Seth Henry scored 32 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to lead the Tartans while Zach Howarth added 10 points off the bench. Trent Suddeth pulled down a game-high 14 rebounds. The Tartans shot 47.0 (31-66) percent from the field and 10.5 (2-19) percent from beyond-the-arc.

King's will be back in action on Saturday afternoon when they will take on SUNY New Paltz in the consolation game at 1:00 p.m. at Lamade Gymnasium. The Hawks fell to the host Warriors 89-68 in the other game of the night.