Poor Shooting Second-Half Dooms DeSales in Overtime Loss at King’s

Senior Ed Lapinski had a team-high 14 points in the loss at King's on Wednesday.

Box Score

BOX SCORE

Wilkes-Barre, PA (February 11, 2009) – The DeSales University men's basketball team shot just 27.8 percent (10-for-36) in the second half and overtime periods falling to King's College, 69-64, in overtime on Wednesday evening in a Freedom Conference game.

With the loss the Bulldogs fall to 18-4 overall and 10-3 in the Freedom Conference but continue in first place by virtue of the Wilkes win over Manhattanville. King's improves to 11-11 overall and 3-10 in the Freedom. The Bulldogs finished the game shooting just 34.3 percent as compared to 47.2 percent for the Monarchs. DSU also made just 7-of-15 (46.7%) from the free throw line including one with 43 seconds left that would have given DeSales a one-point lead.

A back and forth start to the game saw DSU take control with an 11-2 run to open up a 13-7 lead that included three treys including two from sophomore Brian Hunter (Allentown, PA/Emmaus) and one from junior Rob Schubach (Center Valley, PA/Southern Lehigh). King's kept chipping away at the lead throughout the first half but were never able to pass the Bulldogs on the scoreboard and a three-pointer from junior Darnell Braswell (Allentown, PA/William Allen) with five seconds left pushed DSU ahead, 33-27, at the break.

King's shot well (45.5%) in the first half but DSU kept pace by shooting 40.6 percent from the field and canning 7-of-17 three-pointers.

In the second half, the Bulldogs went up seven to start the half on a lay-up from senior Matt Zwetolitz (Whitehall, PA/Whitehall) and after two free throws from junior Jim Malatesta (Warminster, PA/Archbishop Wood), DSU continued to lead by six, 39-33, with 17:00 minutes left to play.

It was as that point; the Bulldogs could not get anything to fall on the offensive end. A 10-0 run over the next three minutes saw the Monarchs take their first lead since 5-2 at 43-39 and saw the Bulldogs miss six straight shots before senior Ed Lapinski (Red Hill, PA/Upper Perkiomen) ended the drought with a lay-up at the 12:37 mark.

Another Lapinski lay-up cut the margin down to three points at the 11:28 mark but a quick 9-2 run by King's gave the hosts a 10-point lead, 55-45, with 8:47 left to play. A Hunter three-pointer sparked a quick 9-0 run featuring three-straight 3's from the Bulldogs including back-to-back triples from Zwetolitz as the lead was cut to one point thanks also in part to a suffocating zone defense DeSales' had switched to that seemed to frustrate the Monarchs on the offensive end.

The game went back-and-forth over the next three minutes until Zwetolitz tied it at 58 with 3:10 to go on two free throws. A jumper from KC's Kevin Conroy pushed the hosts up two, but Braswell answered with a clutch three to put the Bulldogs up one, 61-60, with 1:50 left. Jim Schule answered the Braswell three with a deep jumper just inside the three-point lane on the right sideline to push King's back on top by one, 62-61 with 1:26 to go. A couple of misses by the Bulldogs saw Malatesta grab the second offensive rebound as he was fouled pulling down the board sending him to the line for a one-and-one.

Malatesta made the first to tie the game but missed the second off the back iron with 43 ticks left. King's worked the ball around on the offensive end as Mike Wagner let go on a deep three-pointer as time wound down on the shot clock and Zwetolitz was there to grab the board. DSU quickly called timeout to set up a play. Braswell got the ball on the right sideline, drove to the middle and was met with a triple team. He turned and found Hunter open on the right sideline and Hunter's three at the buzzer hit the front of the rim and fell off the back sending the game into overtime all tied at 62.

In the overtime, Lapinski started things off with a jumper from the foul line on the very first possession giving DSU a 64-62 lead. That however was the last shot DeSales had, as it misfired on its final seven attempts in the extra session and King's went 5-for-6 from the free throw line to record the home victory.

Lapinski finished with a team-high 14 points, while Braswell tallied 13 points and grabbed nine rebounds. Zwetolitz reached double digits with 12 points and Hunter finished with nine points and five assists for the Bulldogs.

Conroy recorded a double-double with 18 points and 12 rebounds, while Schule finished with 14 tallies and Kyle Stackhouse added 10 points in the win.

The Bulldogs return to action on Saturday, February 14^th when they take to the road once again facing Eastern University in another Freedom Conference game beginning at 3:00 pm.

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