On Wednesday, January 16, the TKC Men's Basketball team travelled up to Bronxville, NY, to face Sarah Lawrence. In their first year of a provisional trial as a NCAA DIII team, Sarah Lawrence had faced many of the same teams as King's. King's, who is in its first year as both a USCAA and NCCAA member, went into the game with a 1-11 record, eager to double its wins.

The teams were evenly matched and King's started off with a 18-4 run. Possibly a little overconfident, they let the Gryphons get within 1 point. King's went on to outscore their opponent 40 to 31 in a hard fought second half, leading to a 60-50 victory and King's second win of the season.

David Dantzler (Sr.) was lights out, shooting 5-11 from three and 10-21 field goals, totaling for a season high of 34 points (his career hight is 42 points). Co-captain and fellow senior Greg Baumann was the second highest scorer with 10 points.

As a team, King's had 39 rebounds, 10 steals, 17 turnovers and shot 53.8% from the free throw line.

On Monday night, King's will host NCAA DIII team St. Joseph's.

The King's College Men's Basketball team arrived back in the city a few days early to go on their Maine road trip. They would face two tough opponents, Central Maine Community College (CMCC) and Southern Maine Community College (SMCC), both Top 20 teams in the USCAA. The team left Friday morning, January 11, and played their first game that night.

King's started off even with CMCC but was unable to keep up with the Mustangs' intensity. Marquis King (So.) led King's in scoring with 19 points, shooting 3-8 from the three. Overall, King's played below average, finishing with a demoralizing 43-111 loss.

As a team, King’s had 37 rebounds, 4 steals, 32 turnovers, and shot 61.5% from the line.

The next day, King's faced off with CMCC's neighbor, SMCC. In the first two minutes of the game, King's leading scorer Keith Myrick Jr. (Fr.) who averages 22 points per game, tried to be awarded a block by going right over an SMCC defender on a fast break layup. He hit the floor hard and had to be helped off the court and taken away by paramedics during the game. He fractured his hip and is out for the season.

King's battled hard despite the early loss, but could not fight back SMCC's size. David Dantzler (Sr.), the team captain, scored 23 points and shot 44% from the three. Gezim Usini (Fr.) trailed with 18 points, shooting 6-7 from the free throw line. King's lost 56-102. A taping of the game is available here.

King’s notched 37 rebounds, 6 steals, 18 turnovers, and shot 83.3% from the line.

On Wednesday, January 16, King's will travel up to play Sarah Lawrence.

Following a heartbreaking loss to Pratt (68-69) two days prior, the TKC Men’s Basketball team came in to the game with Cooper Union looking to let out some steam. The game started off with high levels of insensity from both sides.

Cooper Union tested King’s 2-3 zone defense early on. They kept driving in, picking up the fouls and hitting most of their free throws. They also had a few deadly three-point shooters. King’s led for over half the game but gave up the win in the final minutes of the game.

Two King’s players combined for 55 of the 68 points scored. Keith Myrick Jr. (So.) notched 32 points going 5-13 from the three and 7-10 in free throws. Captain David Dantzler (Sr.) scored 23 points while playing the full 40 minutes. They grabbed 7 and 8 rebounds, respectively. The next highest scorer had 4 points.

As a team, King’s had 38 rebounds, 10 steals, 18 turnovers, and shot 57.1% from the line.

On Tuesday, December 5, the team travels down to New Jersey to play the Berkeley Knights.

The King’s College Men’s Basketball team headed down to Phoenixville, PA, on Thursday, November 15, to play in the Hersha Hospitality Tip-off Classic. Hosted by Valley Forge Christian College, the three-day tournament included two other teams from Florida, Southeastern University and Florida Christian College.

A little background on the competition. Southeastern University is located in Lakeland, Florida. They are a part of the NAIA Division I level and recently moved up to NCCAA Division I. When they participated in the NCCAA Division II level, they won championships in all four men’s sports. They added four new sports in the Fall 2012 semester and will add football beginning in the 2014 academic year, after the construction of their $15 million dollar stadium is completed.

Florida Christian College is located in Kissimmee, Florida. FCC is consistently in the top teams in the NCCAA Division II level in which they participate. Both teams are Christian schools.

The first day King’s faced host Valley Forge in their first game of the season. King’s had played 3 games coming into the night with a record of 0-2 (with losses to Central Penn and Vaughn). The home crowd support combined with a few quick baskets by Valley Forge resulted in a huge push of momentum early on. The Patriots maintained their lead throughout the entire game and ended with a season-opening victory over King’s, 93-32. Valley Forge recently advanced to the NCAA Division III level and was King’s toughest opponent of the week.

Keith Myrick Jr. (So.) and Gezim Usini (Fr.) were the high scorers with 7 points each. The team had 28 rebounds, 14 steals, 34 turnovers and shot 80% from the free throw line.

On Friday, King’s hoped to regain some dignity in their game against Southeastern University. Little did they know they were facing the team that would go undefeated. Once again, the athleticism and King’s inability to settle into their rhythm caused the score to shoot up. Southeastern took the victory 84-37. Even though the margin was significant, it was a 14 point improvement from their first game.

Keith Myrick Jr. and Gezim Usini repeated as high scorers with 10 and 11 points, respectively. As a team, King’s put up 36 rebounds, 9 steals, 29 turnovers and went 42.9% from the line.

King’s went head to head with Florida Christian College for their third and final game. Once again, The New York City Lions were outsized but gave them a fight anyways. They scored more than 10 points higher than they had in their two previous games, but sadly Florida Christian had their highest scoring game as well, beating King’s with a whopping final score of 112-48.

Captain David Dantzler (Sr.) finally made an appearance as the top scorer with 22 points. The consistent shooting guard Keith Myrick Jr. placed second with 10 points. The team marked down 20 rebounds, 8 steals, 23 turnovers and went 40.9% from the line.

The tournament was a good experience for the young King’s team and they learned a lot from playing against the good competition at the Hersha Hospitality Tip-off Classic. They look forward to coming back next year and performing better.

This Thursday, November 29, King’s will play Pratt Institute, an NCAA Divisoin III team. Two days later they will face Cooper Union.

The King’s College Men’s Basketball team drove up to Hyde Park, NY, on Sunday, November 11, to play the Culinary Institute of America (CIA). Last year, the two teams faced and at half time King’s was up by 10 points. The second half saw CIA taking advantage of their deep bench and abusing King’s 7-member squad until they had reversed the lead. King’s went up this year with revenge on their mind.

At halftime, both teams had put up 27 points each. Determined not to let the same thing happen again, the coach told the team in the locker room that they had to increase the intensity on the court. King’s came out with a renewed energy and quickly notched some much-needed points. In the second half, King’s put up 43 points compared to CIA’s 21.

Keith Myrick Jr. (So.) led the team with 23 points, shooting 2-6 from three and 9-14 in field goals. Other notable contributors were captain David Dantzler (Sr.) who notched 10 points and was one rebound away from a double-double and Gezim Usini (Fr.) who went 2-2 from the three point line.

King’s was glad to secure their first win and look forward to many more.