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<p>DALLAS TWP. &#8212; The threes had been falling all night for King&#8217;s, hitting 12 of 21 in regulation.</p><p>Misericordia wouldn&#8217;t let the Monarchs get No. 13 in overtime.</p><p>The Cougars held King&#8217;s without a field goal in the extra frame and a contested tying three-pointer in the final seconds was off the mark, giving Misericordia an 80-75 win on Wednesday at the Anderson Center.</p><p>Teams have had trouble shaking the Monarchs down the stretch of the season. Misericordia was no exception.</p><p>&#8220;I&#8217;ve been preaching the last week or so (about) effort,&#8221; Cougars coach Willie Chandler said. &#8220;Talent only gets you so far. &#8230; These guys just thought they could show up the last couple games and play. And I thought today, they thought they were going to show up and &#8230; just win.</p><p>&#8220;We got up 10, and we relaxed again. Give it to King&#8217;s. They hit some big shots and got me out of the zone. We had to man up. And we did.&#8221;</p><p>The win had the Cougars (15-7, 6-5 Freedom Conference) exhaling a bit as the race for the final spot in the league tournament remains up for grabs.</p><p>Misericordia moved a game ahead of Wilkes for the final spot with the two set for a critical showdown on Saturday back at the Anderson Center. A win over the Colonels would clinch a postseason berth.</p><p>On Wednesday, it was Jason Kenny once again leading the Cougars with 21 points. Tony Harding added 13 to go with nine rebounds, four blocks and two steals.</p><p>Tre Fields had the lone bucket for either team in overtime, a tip off an inbounds play.</p><p>King&#8217;s (5-17, 1-10) continued its strong run of three-point shooting, getting four apiece from Jake Barber (20 points) and Connor Callejas (16).</p><p>&#8220;The thing that makes me feel bad is people don&#8217;t recognize how well they are playing, because we&#8217;re just not getting the wins,&#8221; Monarchs coach J.P. Andrejko said. &#8220;The improvement in them has been fantastic. The effort is great. I&#8217;m really just proud of them.&#8221;</p><p>Both sides had a chance to win it in regulation. King&#8217;s forced a Misericordia turnover underneath the basket and called timeout to play for the final shot. But the Cougars never let the Monarchs get into their play and Harding came up with a block of an off-balance shot to send it to overtime.</p><p>Up just 33-31 at the break after trailing for much of the first half, the Cougars came out for the second by hitting their first three shots from behind the arc. A narrow lead quickly swelled to 10, but the Monarchs wouldn&#8217;t let it get any larger.</p><p>King&#8217;s battled back to grab the lead midway through the frame to set up the frantic finish.</p><p>Misericordia changed up its lineup as seniors Griffin Sponaugle and James Hawk opened the game on the bench. Alec Rodway and Noah Rivera took their place, though all four played at least 14 minutes.</p><p><strong>DeSales 72, Wilkes 71</strong></p><p>Brian Laird hit a three-pointer with six seconds left following a missed free throw from Wilkes to lift the Bulldogs to a hard-fought road win.</p><p>Marcus Robinson (13 points), Tommy Bowen (13) and Connor Evans (12) led the Colonels, who must win at Misericordia Saturday to remain in the playoff race.</p><p><strong>WOMEN</strong></p><p><strong>Misericordia 80,</strong></p><p><strong>King&#8217;s 54</strong></p><p>The Cougars blitzed the Lady Monarchs 29-8 in the first quarter and never looked back, clinching their first playoff berth in five years.</p><p>Misericordia (16-6, 9-2) will be headed to the Freedom Conference tournament for the first time since they won the league and reached the NCAA tournament in 2011-12.</p><p>&#8220;It means a lot,&#8221; first-year Cougars coach Jason Rhine said. &#8220;It&#8217;s been a long time since Misericordia showed up in the playoff bracket for the MAC. &#8230; For our seniors, especially, they&#8217;ve seen some rough times here. So I think that means a lot.&#8221;</p><p>Rachel Carmody continued a hot streak, scoring a game-high 19 points while Justine Seely turned in another double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds.</p><p>Freshman Rebecca Prociak finished with 18 points and 10 boards off the bench to lead the Lady Monarchs (4-17, 2-9) in both categories.</p><p><strong>DeSales 75, Wilkes 35</strong></p><p>The Bulldogs kept pace with Misericordia for the No. 2 seed in the conference tournament with the two teams set to play on Tuesday in Center Valley.</p><p>Twelve different players scored for the Lady Colonels, led by freshman Gianna Roberts.</p><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>MEN</strong></p><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Misericordia 80, King&#8217;s 75</strong></p><p><strong>KING&#8217;S (75)</strong> &#8212; Nate Oliver 0-0 0-0 0, John Fazzini 2-4 1-3 6, Chris Fazzini 1-4 0-0 2, Dan Rutecki 3-11 1-2 7, Ryan Wasley 2-6 0-0 6, Dan Angelo 0-2 0-0 0, Connor Callejas 5-8 2-3 16, Tyler Millan 2-4 5-6 11, Jake Barber 8-18 0-0 20, John Dini 0-1 0-0 0, Tony Maloney 0-0 0-0 0, Andrew Hudak 0-2 0-0 0, Derek Wilkins 4-8 0-0 9. <strong>Totals 27-68 9-14 75.</strong></p><p><strong>MISERICORDIA (80)</strong> &#8212;Alec Rodway 3-5 0-0 8, Tre Fields 2-8 2-2 7, Jason Kenny 4-10 11-12 21, Tony Harding 5-12 1-2 13, Noah Rivera 3-8 1-2 7, Jamie Egan 1-2 0-0 2, Stone McCreary 3-6 0-2 7, Griffin Sponaugle 4-11 1-2 11, James Hawk 2-4 0-1 4. <strong>Totals 27-66 16-23 80.</strong></p><p><strong>King&#8217;s&#8220;31`41`3 &#8212; 75</strong></p><p><strong>Misericordia`33`39`8 &#8212; 80</strong></p><p><strong>Three-point goals</strong> &#8212; KC 12-24 (Callejas 4-6, Barber 4-9, Millan 2-2, J. Fazzini 1-2, Wilkins 1-2, C. Fazzini 0-1, Angelo 0-1, Dini 0-1); MU 10-34 (Rodway 2-4, Kenny 2-6, Harding 2-7, Sponaugle 2-8, McCreary 1-3, Fields 1-5, Egan 0-1)</p><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>WOMEN</strong></p><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Misericordia 80, King&#8217;s 54</strong></p><p><strong>KING&#8217;S (54)</strong> &#8212; Kasey Seitz 2-7 1-2 7, Olivia Hoffman 2-8 2-2 6, Kayla Feairheller 0-7 3-4 3, Alexis Steeber 2-7 2-4 6, Maggie Michael 0-1 2-2 2, Savannah Lynch 1-4 0-0 2, Sara Wolbert 2-4 0-0 4, Erin Schmidt 0-4 0-0 0, Kayla Dillinger 0-0 0-0 0, Shae Grim 2-4 2-2 6, Rebecca Prociak 7-14 4-4 18. <strong>Totals 18-60 10-12 54.</strong></p><p><strong>MISERICORDIA (80)</strong> &#8212; Japriya Carroll 5-11 0-0 12, Leanne Forsyth 1-5 3-4 5, Shannon Croasdale 2-5 0-0 6, Justine Seely 7-16 0-2 14, Rachel Carmody 7-11 4-6 19, Lena Williams 0-6 1-2 1, Liz Waleski 2-6 0-0 5, Jaclyn Hajec 0-2 0-0 0, Ashley Johnson 0-1 0-0 0, Kristen Schmale 0-0 0-0 0, Paige Wampole 3-6 5-5 11, Alexa Plitt 2-5 2-2 7. <strong>Totals 29-74 15-21 80.</strong></p><p><strong>King&#8217;s&#8220;8`13`16`17 &#8212; 54</strong></p><p><strong>Misericordia`29`21`16`14 &#8212; 80</strong></p><p><strong>Three-point goals</strong> &#8212; KC 2-16 (Seitz 2-6, Grim 0-1, Lynch 0-2, Feairheller 0-3, Schmidt 0-4); MU 7-20 (Croasdale 2-4, Carroll 2-5, Carmody 1-2, Waleski 1-3, Plitt 1-4, Hajec 0-1, Johnson 0-1)</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">King&#8217;s Ryan Wesley, left, and Misericordia&#8217;s Stone McCreary battle for a loose ball in MAC Freedom Conference men&#8217;s basketball action Wednesday night. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/web1_Miseri-KingsBB_1-1.jpg</photo0><caption0>King&#8217;s Ryan Wesley, left, and Misericordia&#8217;s Stone McCreary battle for a loose ball in MAC Freedom Conference men&#8217;s basketball action Wednesday night. </caption0><photoCredit0>Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/web1_Miseri-KingsBB_2-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Misericordia forward Noah Rivera finishes a fastbreak with a dunk against King&#8217;s. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/web1_Miseri-KingsBB_2-1.jpg</photo1><caption1>Misericordia forward Noah Rivera finishes a fastbreak with a dunk against King&#8217;s. </caption1><photoCredit1>Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/web1_Miseri-KingsBB_3-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Misericordia guard Jason Kenny looks to pass over the King&#8217;s defense. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/web1_Miseri-KingsBB_3-1.jpg</photo2><caption2>Misericordia guard Jason Kenny looks to pass over the King&#8217;s defense. </caption2><photoCredit2>Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader </photoCredit2></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/web1_Miseri-KingsBB_4-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Misericordia guard Tre Fields scores over King&#8217;s Tyler Millan. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo3>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/web1_Miseri-KingsBB_4-1.jpg</photo3><caption3>Misericordia guard Tre Fields scores over King&#8217;s Tyler Millan. </caption3><photoCredit3>Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader </photoCredit3></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Overtime victory over King&#8217;s puts Misericordia in position to clinch playoff spot</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Derek Levarse</p><p>dlevarse@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Derek Levarse at 570-991-6396 or on Twitter @TLdlevarse</p></shirttailMeta></div>

College Basketball: Overtime victory has Misericordia men breathing easy