Box Score BOX SCORE
Wilkes-Barre, Pa. (February 6, 2008) – The DeSales University men's basketball team was on the wrong side of the scoreboard in Freedom Conference play for the first time this season falling to King's College, 74-66, in Scandlon Gymnasium on Wednesday evening.
The loss drops the Bulldogs to 17-3 overall and 7-1 in the Freedom Conference, while the Monarchs improve to 12-8 overall and 5-3 in conference play. King's shot a blistering 59.3 percent from the field in the second half and committed just eight turnovers in the game for the win.
DeSales trailed by seven at the break as they went without scoring for more than five minutes on two different occasions in the opening 20 minutes. After going scoreless over the first 5:16 of the game, a 14-4 run turned a three-point deficit into a 23-16 lead at the 5:30 mark forcing King's to call timeout.
Following the timeout, the Monarchs scored the final 14 points of the half to build its seven-point advantage entering the locker rooms. During the final 5:30 of the half DSU went 0-for-7 from the field and also missed two free throws as they finished the half shooting just 16.7 percent (1-for-6) from the charity stripe.
After regrouping at halftime, the Bulldogs came out strong to open the second half starting the final period on an 18-6 run to build a 41-36 lead at the 13:54 mark. Junior Ed Lapinski (Red Hill, PA/Upper Perkiomen) led the surge with 11 of the 18 points including two three-pointers.
The game went back and forth over the next six minutes with King's chipping away at the Bulldog lead. With the hosts leading by two, 51-49, at the 7:40 mark, the Monarchs went on a 13-1 run to push a two-point advantage into a 14-point lead as DeSales struggled to score once again going 0-for-1 from the field with three turnovers, while King's hits 6-of-7 shots during the spurt.
The Bulldogs made a late surge capitalizing on a few steals and some missed free throws by the Monarchs and had a chance to cut the lead down to four points on one possession but a three-pointer was off the mark and King's sealed the win from the free throw line over the final 30 seconds to hand DSU its first conference loss.
Lapinski led the Bulldogs with 17 points and eight rebounds in the loss. Sophomore Darnell Braswell (Allentown, PA/William Allen) also reached double figures with 16 points and grabbed seven rebounds and fellow sophomore Eric Salem (Reading, PA/Exeter) came off the bench to score 11 points. Senior Eddie Ohlson (Allentown, PA/Parkland) finished with 10 points and four assists.
Senior John Soboleski totaled a game-high 20 points and grabbed seven rebounds to lead King's. Senior Jamie Cousart had 16 points, six rebounds and four assists and sophomore Jim Schule led the charge off the bench with 13 points and five rebounds.
The Bulldogs will return to action on Saturday, February 9th when they host Manhattanville College in another Freedom Conference game beginning at 3:00 pm. For those unable to attend you can follow the game online via a radio web cast HERE or live stats HERE.
