Wilkes-Barre, PA (February 24, 2007) – Junior Phil Stricker (Womelsdorf, PA/Conrad Weiser) and freshman Darnell Braswell (Allentown, PA/William Allen) each scored 16 points but for the third time in the last five years the DeSales University men’s basketball team fell one win and just a few points short of earning a trip to the NCAA Tournament falling to King’s College, 67-64, in the Freedom Conference championship game in front of a packed house at Scandlon Gymnasium on Saturday afternoon.

 

        King’s (19-8 overall) earns the Freedom Conference’s automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament for the second time in the last three years after they also defeated the Bulldogs (19-8 overall) two years ago, 77-72, in Billera Hall.  DSU will once again have to wait to see if its season will be extended either by an NCAA at-large bid late Sunday evening or an ECAC tournament invitation on Monday afternoon.

 

        A packed house was treated to a very exciting game that featured several different runs by both teams as the two clubs repeatedly tried to gain control of a see-saw game.  Championship game jitters were evident at the beginning with the score being tied at 11 with 12:12 to go before Ryan Nenstiel took the game over to give the Monarchs the first run of the game.

 

        Nenstiel scored 12 straight points, 10 of which came during a 19-4 run that gave the host’s a 30-15 lead with 6:29 to play in the opening half.  Nenstiel canned two treys and repeatedly took advantage of his height advantage backing a shorter DSU defender into the post and shooting over him numerous times.

 

        Trailing by 11, 36-25, at the 3:19 mark the Bulldogs mounted a rally finishing the half on a 12-4 run to cut the lead to three points entering the locker room.  Sophomore Ed Lapinski (Red Hill, PA/Upper Perkiomen) had five points during the spurt and sophomore Matt Zwetolitz (Whitehall, PA/Whitehall) layed in a loose ball at the buzzer to give DSU some momentum heading into the half.

 

        The start of the second half saw KC push the lead back to 11 points with an 8-0 run to start, but the Bulldogs countered with an 8-0 of their own that made the score 48-45 with 12:01 to play.  Leading by four, junior Jamie Cousart, the Freedom Conference Playoffs Most Valuable Player, scored seven straight points to ignite a 9-0 KC spurt that put King’s up 60-47 with 8:14 remaining.

 

        DSU was not going to fold up its tent just yet however as they quickly answered the challenge with a 15-3 run getting within one point, 63-62, at the 3:32 mark on a driving lay-up from Braswell.  Kofi Dwebeng converted two freebies on the next possession and both teams missed golden opportunities over the next 3-4 possessions to put this game away.

 

        The Bulldogs gained valuable stops on the defensive end but were unable to get over the hump in its comeback attempt on the offensive end.  Still trailing by three with 16 seconds left following another defensive stop, DSU swung the ball around to Braswell who launched a tying three-point attempt that hit the back rim but Braswell was fouled on the attempt and was sent to the line for three shots with 9 ticks left.  He came up short on the first charity toss but hit nothing but net on the last two make it a 65-64 game.

 

        DeSales was forced to foul on the ensuing inbounds play and Cousart calmly bounced home two free throws to push the lead back to three points with 8.1 seconds left.  The Bulldogs inbounded the ball to junior Eddie Ohlson (Allentown, PA/Parkland) who dribbled towards Braswell for a dribble hand-off exchange and Braswell had a good look at a tying three-pointer but his shot hit the front rim and bounced out as the Monarchs secured the rebound and time expired on DSU’s chances.

 

        There were several spectacular individual performances in this game including Braswell who tied his season-high with 16 points, playing all 40 minutes and holding the Monarchs leading scorer to just 11 points.  Ohlson also played well finishing with eight points, eight assists and four steals, while fellow junior Jamie McCloskey (Newark, DE/St. Mark’s) had eight points and controlled the red hot R. Nenstiel in the second half.

 

        Stricker finished with 16 points and also pulled down a game-high nine rebounds.  He became the 20^th player in DSU men’s basketball history to score 1,000-career points and now stands with 1,011 points in just three seasons.  Lapinski also had a strong game off the bench with nine points and four rebounds.

 

        Nenstiel led the Monarchs with 19 points, 14 of which came in the first half.  John Soboleski finished with 13 points and eight rebounds and Cousart totaled 11 points to earn MVP honors.