Box Score

WILKES-BARRE, Pa. – Susquehanna's men's basketball team avenged an earlier season loss to King's (Pa.) by defeating the Monarchs  69-63 in overtime Saturday afternoon in the PNC Bank Monarch Classic.

The Crusaders (3-6) had four players finish in double-figures, led by freshman Josh Miller (Strasburg, Pa. / Lampeter-Strasburg) who scored 16 points behind 4-of-6 shooting from behind the arc. He also grabbed seven rebounds en route to being selected to the All-Tournament team.

SU knocked down 10 three pointers and shot 70 percent from the line (19-of-27) as the Crusaders avenged the 44-43 defeat back on Nov. 17 in the Pepsi Tip-Off Tournament.

In overtime, Mike Perillo (Holmdel, N.J. / Holmdel) drained a three-point basket handing SU a four point lead (62-58) with three minutes left and hit two free throws to extend the Crusader lead to six with thirty ticks remaining as SU held on for the victory.

The Crusaders began the second half with two Wally Rutecki (Springfield, Pa. / Springfield) free throws and a Brandon Hedley (Silver Spring, Md. / Salisbury Prep.) three-pointer to get within two points (31-29) and Miller sunk another shot from downtown to tie the contest at 35 with 14:31 remaining.

SU claimed its first lead of the afternoon (37-36) after Perillo hit a pair of foul shots at 11:17.

Luke Cable (York, Pa. / West York) and Hedley knocked down consecutive three-pointers giving SU their largest lead of the afternoon, 50-41, with a little over seven minutes remaining in the game.

King's (5-4) ended the second half on a 16-7 run capped off by a game-tying three-point play with 1:20 left.

The Monarchs began the first half on an 8-0 run before a three-pointer by Miller put the Crusaders on the board at 15:41.

A quick 7-0 SU counter highlighted by a Rutecki layup cut the deficit to two (12-10) with 12:54 remaining. But once again the Monarchs responded with a 14-1 run to jump ahead 24-13 with less than seven minutes left in the opening period.

The Crusaders trimmed the King's advantage to six (29-23) after senior Brendan Rezny (Sparta, N.J. / Sparta) made a pair of free throws and freshman Spencer Ortmyer (York, Pa. / Central York) knocked down a jumper. Neither team scored the rest of the period as the Monarchs held the lead at intermission 29-23.

The Crusaders hit the hardwood next Saturday, Dec. 15 at New Jersey City at 4:00 p.m.

PNC Bank Monarch Classic All-Tournament Team

Wes Kirkland         Central Penn

Matt Fiorino            King's

Tyler Breznitsky        Wilkes

Kyle Hammonds       King's

Josh Miller            Susquehanna

 Chris Shovlin (MVP)  Wilkes