King’s basketball teams earn sweep of rival Wilkes
WILKES-BARRE — With six seconds left, both Wilkes and King’s had the biggest moment of their seasons so far.
Trailing by two, the Colonels had one more chance to tie or take the lead against the rival Monarchs. An inbound pass went to Mark Mullins, who drove the lane and went up for the game tying layup, but the ball never made it. The Monarchs pounced on the loose ball and Jake Pawliczak hit a free throw to close out a 75-72 win on Wednesday.
Things appear to be coming together for King’s. With a win over Wilkes in the Marts Center, the Monarchs have now won two road games in a row.
“It’s all about growth. Getting the road win at FDU-Florham was huge,” King’s coach J.P. Andrejko said. “That set us up to come in here and play a really good team. Finding a way to beat them on their floor is definitely going to help us down the road.”
King’s has the ball rolling now and they will have another road game coming up at Delaware Valley.
“Hopefully we are just going to keep moving forward,” King’s forward Andrew Hudak said. “Two good road wins and tonight was a hard-fought game. Wilkes played their butts off.”
Hudak dominated the floor in this one, scoring a game-high 27 points while going a perfect 12-for-12 from the field. He added nine rebounds to finish just one board shy of a double-double.
King’s improves to 2-3 in MAC Freedom play while Wilkes drops to 1-4. The Colonels were picked to finish fourth in the preseason coaches poll and make the playoffs.
King’s on the other hand was picked to finish at the bottom of the conference and struggled at the beginning of the season. But as the calendar turned to 2020 and the Monarchs continue to get healthy, things seem to be looking up.
“We are starting to get some continuity. You can see it on both ends of the floor and we are starting to get healthy,” Andrejko said. “Quite honestly, it’s practice. They are getting more reps in practice and you can see we’re starting to come together as a team.”
The game went back and forth to start, with Wilkes going on an 8-2 run to open the game. The Monarchs responded with a 13-3 run to take the lead. From that point on the two teams went back and forth until King’s ripped off a 12-2 run, grabbing a 32-22 lead.
The Colonels attempted to chip into the King’s lead but could only get it to a 44-35 game at halftime.
The Monarchs shot 60 percent from the field and 50 percent from three to build their lead.
“We had a great first half and we had a great inside/outside balance,” Andrejko said. “We didn’t have that the first semester.”
Wilkes surged in the second half, trying to get back into the game. They were able to get within striking range a few times, but the Monarchs had an answer.
“In the second half, I give Wilkes credit, they came and played hard. They came right at us,” Andrejko said. “They weathered it really well. They showed a lot of toughness because there were a couple times on their runs that they could’ve given it up and they didn’t.”
Pawliczak followed Hudak’s game for King’s with a 15 points and 11 rebounds for a double-double.
Wilkes was led by Derek Heiserman’s double-double. He finished with 14 points and 11 boards. Rob Pecorelli finished with 12 points and Mullins had 10.
“We had a lot of injuries at the beginning of the year,” Hudak said. “Just getting us back and into the flow with everything that is clicking and helping us.”
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
King’s 75, Wilkes 53
The Monarchs improved to 5-0 in MAC Freedom play to remain in a tie for first place with fellow unbeaten Misericordia.
“We keep talking about winning the game that is in front of us,” King’s coach Caitlin Hadzimichalis said. “We talk a lot about how road conference wins lead to home playoff games.”
Rebecca Prociak put up another double-double and Samantha Rajza had a big night to lift the Monarchs. Prociak had 15 points and 10 boards while Rajza had 18 points and three steals, rebounds and assists.
Wilkes hung around in the game, keeping themselves within 10 points most of the game.
“They are well coached, and they know how to play defense,” Hadzimichalis said. “We aren’t a secret at 5-0. and we have to expect that and assert our dominance earlier.”
Macy Berryman was a bright spot for the Colonels (0-5 MAC Freedom), scoring 16 points.
“We need a floor general for when we aren’t playing our best,” Wilkes coach Tara Macciocco said. “There are some people that are stepping up and getting everyone on the same page. But there are so many young players on this team and we are working on it.”
