FEBRUARY 3, 2018

KING'S MEN DOWN EASTERN IN 96-90 OVERTIME THRILLER

WILKES-BARRE -- Josh Bailey scored with 0:02 left in regulation to send the game into overtime and the King's College men's basketball team outscored visiting Eastern University 12-6 in the extra session as the Monarchs gutted out a thrilling 96-90 Freedom Conference victory Saturday in Scandlon Gym.

With the win King's improved to 10-11 overall and 6-4 in Freedom Conference games. Eastern, meanwhile, slipped to 11-10 and 6-4 in league play. King's is now locked in a tie for second-place with Eastern for the fourth and final conference playoff berth. The win also enabled the Monarchs to even the series season with Eastern at one game apiece.

The game was a back-and-forth affair the entire contest. The Monarchs trailed 84-79 with just 0:47 left in regulation. Chris Fazzini was fouled with 0:38 left and made the first of two free throws to cut the score to 84-80. But Fazzini snared the offensive rebound after missing the second attempt and scored on a putback to trim the lead to 84-82 with 0:38 to bring the Monarchs to within 84-82.

Eastern would miss on its next possession and the Monarchs rebounded while calling a timeout with 0:07 to play. After a successful inbound play the Monarchs found Joshua Bailey along the right sideline near half-court and Bailey weaved through a number of Eastern defenders to score the tying basket with 0:02 left to send the game to overtime.

The Eagles scored first in the extra session on a pair of Austin James free throws to go ahead 86-84. After a King's turnover, Eastern scored on a Victor Pena lay-up to push the score to 88-84 with 3:36 on the clock.

The Monarchs countered on a Bailey jumper to cut the score to 88-86. After another Eastern turnover, Bailey drained a three-pointer to put the Monarchs on top  89-88 with 2:41 to play.  Neither team would cor for the next minute, but Fazzini came up with a big defensive steal and Dan Angelo drained a three-pointer from NBA range to put King's ahead 92-88 with 1:06 on the clock.

After an Eastern miss, Bailey was fouled with 0:34 remaining and made one-of-two attempts to give the Monarchs a 93-88 advantage. After another Eastern miss, Bailey was again fouled and made both charity tosses to up the Monarch lead to 95-88 with 0:25 left.  Eastern would once again turn the ball over and Bailey was fouled for the third straight possession with 0:15 to go and made one-of-two attempts to ice the game by giving King's a 96-88 advantage.

The Eagles would score with just 0:03 on the clock as the Monarchs walked away with their biggest win of the season.

Connor Callejas led King's with 22 points and seven rebounds while making five three-pointers. Fazzini followed with 19 points and 1 boards and moved to within four points of the 1,000-point plateau. Tyler Millan netted 16 points and a trio of three-pointers while Bailey tallied 15 points, with nine coming in overtime. Angelo and Lenny Radziak chipped in with nine and eight points respectively.

Eastern was led by Darius Washington with 23 points while Victor Pena added 11 points and 16 boards.

King's made 14 three-pointers in the game while Eastern netted 10.

The Monarchs return home on Wednesday with a critical Freedom Conference matchup against local rival Misericordia University at 8:00 PM in Scandlon Gymnasium.