Marywood to Open New Year at Cross County Challenge

Marywood University Pacers

Marywood will open 2015 at the Cross County Challenge, hosted by King's

Marywood to Open New Year at Cross County Challenge

Men's Basketball - 12/31/2014 10:25:00 AM

Wilkes-Barre, PA - Four local colleges representing Luzerne and Lackawanna counties will square off on the hardwood when the fourth annual Cross County Challenge takes place Friday and Saturday in Scandlon Gymnasium on the campus of King's College, Wilkes-Barre.

Four years ago the event began as an opportunity to showcase four area schools with King's and Wilkes from Luzerne County squaring off against Lackawanna County's Scranton and Marywood. Marywood hosted the first year of the event in 2012 while Wilkes followed up as the host in 2013. Scranton was the 2014 host while King's completes the cycle by entertaining the field in the 2015 version.

Friday at 6:05 p.m. Wilkes and Marywood will tip-off the competition while King's and Scranton square off in the 8:00 p.m. nightcap. Both games Friday will be televised locally by My Network TV and will appear on WQMY-TV. The games will appear on Comcast Cable TV channel 811 HD; Service Electric Cable TV channel 504 HD; Direct TV Channel 53 HD; Dish Network Channel 53 and over the air channel 53.1

Fans unable to attend can follow all games on the Internet each day on LiveStats at: http://www.sidearmstats.com/kings/mbball/

Both Friday games will be broadcast by NEPA Sports Radio-The Game on 1340 AM and 100.7 FM.

On Saturday, Scranton and Wilkes will play at 1:00 p.m. before Marywood and King's meet in the final game of the event at 3:00 p.m.

Both Wilkes games will be broadcast by ESPN Williamsport at:
http://player.fullviewplayer.com/?pid=979

Both Scranton games will be broadcast at: www.wusrfm.com

King's enters the event with a 6-3 mark after splitting a pair of games in the FNCB/Monarch Classic December 12-13. Scranton stands at 7-2 after splitting a pair of games at the D3hoops.com Classic Sunday and Monday in Las Vegas.

Wilkes enters the event with a 6-4 mark after dropping a 69-60 home verdict to Gettysburg on Tuesday. Marywood, meanwhile, is 5-3 after falling to Lebanon Valley 74-66 in its last ga,e December 19.

Scranton holds the distinction of having never lost a Cross County Challenge game. Over the course of the three previous year of the event, Scranton is 6-0 overall, winning both games each year. King's, Wilkes, and Marywood are all 2-4 since the event started in the 2011-12 season.

The Monarchs have been paced by sophomore forward Dan Rutecki (Springfield/Springfield) who averages 14.3 points and 7.2 rebounds per-game. Rutecki has shot 51.3 (39-76) percent from the field and 84.7 (50-59) percent from the foul line.

Freshman shooting guard Chris Fazzini (Mt. Top/Crestwood) follows with 10.8 points, 3.2 rebounds and has made 80 (24-30) percent of his free throws.

Freshman forward Dan Borner (Belmar, NJ/St. Rose) adds 8.9 points and 4.0 rebounds while sophomore guard Nate Oliver (Wilkes-Barre/Coughlin) contributes 6.1 points and has made a team-high 13 three-pointers.

Sophomore point-guard John Fazzini (Mt. Top/Crestwood), a transfer from East Stroudsburg University who maintains freshman eligibility, has posted 5.4 points, 3.8 rebounds with seven three-pointers.

Junior center Tom Heston (Feasterville/Holy Ghost Prep) has tallied 4.9 points, 5.7 rebounds, and a team-high 19 assists. Sophomore forward Derek Wilkins (Dushore/Sullivan County) has registered 4.3 points and 2.6 boards while senior Tim O'Shea (Brick, NJ/Brick Memorial) chips in with 3.1 points and 2.7 boards.

Junior center-forward Brendan Boken tops the Royals with 17.3 points and 5.7 rebounds each game.Senior guard Justin Klingman follows with 13.4 points and 4.1 boards while making a team-high 25 three-pointers. Senior guard Ross Danzig adds 13.1 points, 4.8 rebounds, 12 three-pointers, and a team-best 4.3 assists.

Freshman guard Kevin Doolan contributes 8.2 points with a squad-leading 11 steals while fellow rookie guard Ethan Danzig chips in with 5.0 points and 3.0 rebounds with 10 three-pointers. Scranton averages 66.9 points per-game while allowing 59.3 each contest.

Junior guard Alec Wizar leads the Colonels with 17.5 points, 2.3 rebounds, and 2.4 assists while making 28 three-pointers. Junior forward Steve Stravinski follows with 16.6 points and 6.8 rebounds while canning a team-high 36 three-pointers for an average of 3.6 treys per-game.

Freshman forward Zach Brunner adds 12.6 points and 7.2 boards while senior guard Cameron Hinkel contributes 7.2 points and 6.8 rebounds.Sophomore guard Tyler Jackson has registered 6.9 points and 3.6 assists per-game while freshman forward Mason Gross, rookie guard John Goffredo, and senior forward Jeremy Hartman chip with with 4.9, 4.7, and 4.3 points per-game respectively. Wilkes is averaging 76.4 points while yielding 74.0 points each contest.

Marywood is paced by Jeremy Ringland with 11.4 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 13 three-pointers while making 55.6 (35-63) percent of his shots from the field. Michael Rotell follows with 8.9 points and 4.3 rebounds while Shane Letthand also posts 8.9 points with a team-high 3.3 assists.

Shane Kellaher contributes 8.5 points, 5.1 boards and 2.4 assists while Connor Callejas has posted 8.0 points and 2.3 assists. Alex Barr chips in with 7.3 points, 2.0 assists, and 13 treys. Marywood averages 77.1 points per-game while allowing 60.5 each contest.

All-Time Cross County Challenge Results

Scranton (6-0)

2011-12

Scranton 71 - Wilkes 53

Scranton 62 - King's 47

2012-13

Scranton 81 - King's 66

Scranton 71 - Wilkes 68

2013-14

Scranton 87 - King's 83
Scranton 83 - Wilkes 68

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King's (2-4)
2011-12
King's 81 - Marywood 53
King's 47 - Scranton 62