Wilkes-Barre, PA – At this point in the long basketball season, teams can take little solace in learning experiences, but while the Clarkson University Men’s Basketball team suffered a 96-66 loss to King’s College in its first-ever appearance in the NCAA Tournament, the Golden Knights were exposed to a different type of post-season basketball, and they are prepared to make this year’s participation in March Madness a more regular occurrence.
With their first-round loss in the NCAAs, the Golden Knights finished the season off at 11-17 overall. King’s moves on to play at Plattsburgh State in the second round, improving to 20-8 on the season.
Clarkson came out flat in the first half of its first-ever NCAA contest, struggling to gain any kind of offensive flow. Meanwhile, the Monarchs were showing why they had won the Freedom Conference for the second straight season, going inside to their bulky forward John Soboleski. His soft touch around the rim and instinctual passing to the wings for open looks helped King’s jump out to a double-digit advantage in the opening minutes of the contest.
While the Monarchs were clicking on offense, Clarkson scuffled on both ends of the floor, allowing fast break opportunities to King’s because of the long rebounds off their 3-point attempts with which the Knights were using in trying to climb back into the contest. Unfortunately, the strategy didn’t work, as the 3-point attempts simply would not fall, and the Monarchs finished the half with a 22-13 edge in rebounds.
Clarkson shot just 25.8 percent (8-for-31) from the floor in the first half, and made just two of its 10 3-point field goal attempts. King’s offense went the other way, as the Monarchs shot an other-worldly 65.4 percent (17-for-26) from the field, the highest percentage yielded by the Knights’ defense all season, including six 3-pointers. The Monarchs’ 47 points were also the second most allowed by Clarkson all season, falling just a field goal short of the 49 given up against RIT in November.
Soboleski scored 15 points in the first half to lead the Monarchs, shooting both 5-for-7 from the field and from the free throw line. Jamie Cousart added in nine points, going 4-for-6 from the floor, to go along with four assists. For Clarkson, Keith Murray (Queens, NY) scored eight points and had three steals.
In the second half, the Knights changed their offensive mindset, going to the basket as much as possible to get sure baskets while hoping that the Monarchs’ pace would slow. For the first few minutes, it didn’t appear as if the alteration would do much as the teams traded baskets, but Brandon Linton’s (Queens, NY) strong drives to the basket, coupled with some timely passes to the shooters on the perimeter, allowed the Knights to climb back within 17 points at the 14-minute mark.
Foul trouble ended any hopes of a Clarkson comeback, as the whistles began to sound more frequently in the second half, sending King’s to the line for easy points. The game loosened up in the final 10 minutes of the contest as the Monarchs continued to push their lead with good position in the block and open shots from the perimeter. With a fast-paced style of play in the waning moments of the game, the Monarchs pushed their lead into the low 30s before finally settling at a 30-point margin.
Soboleski finished with a game-high 23 points, going 7-for-11 from the floor and 9-for-13 from the line. King’s spent plenty of time at the free throw line and converted most of their attempts, going 25-for-34. Cousart closed with 20 points, shooting 5-for-9 from the field and matching Soboleski’s free throw conversion rate of 9-for-13. Ryan Nenstiel came off the bench to score 20 points, making six of his eight shots, with four 3-point field goals.
Linton scored 15 of his team-high 17 points in the second half, shooting a flawless 7-for-7 from the free throw line. Murray and James Evans (Hamburg, NY) each added 11 points. Evans made three of his four 3-point field goal attempts in the game.
The Monarchs’ 96 points was the most allowed by Clarkson in the 2007-08 season, and King’s finished shooting 61.2 percent from the field, including an impressive 64.7 percent from beyond the 3-point line, also highs allowed by the Knights. Clarkson, conversely, never did get on track in the shooting department, shooting 33.3 percent total, and 29.2 percent from beyond the 3-point arc.
