Wilkes Barre, Pa., — They came one after another, sometimes consecutively, others with a lucky pass from the baseline.
Monday night, the constant was the same on the hardwoods of Scandlon Gymnasium: sophomore Nate Oliver was on fire. The first time it was from the weak-side arc, netting a triple in the face of a Penn State Hazleton defender.
Next, it was a skip pass from a double-covered Chris Fazzini that found Oliver wide open. And the last one, just like the others, fired from 23 feet. Feet sliding, elbows up, nylon.
Oliver fanned his hands while head coach J.P. Andrejko gave him a violent tap on his backside. King’s College (2-0) clobbered the Nittany Lions (2-2) 69-56 in front of a small crowd, majorly students.
And though Oliver chipped in 15 points behind sophomore Dan Rutecki’s 20, Andrejko was still joking about his poor performance from Saturday night.
“He stunk the other night where were you,” Andrejko joked about his young guard. “He shot the ball great. The other night he got good looks. He got really good looks. But he and the offense weren’t in rhythm. But tonight, he definitely was and the offense was slower and you just feel it.”
He continued: “He hit the one, when you see he released it, it looked perfect…when he’s like that, he’s pretty good.”
Although the Monarchs rocked the Nittany Lions in the second half, the first was a performance of sloppy shooting that kept Penn State Hazleton close by the end of the set. The club chucked 29 shots and only connected on 11 for 37.9 percent from the floor.
Meanwhile, the Nittany Lions, though they trailed, were more efficient with their shot selection and connected on 41.2 percent of their shots from the field and 42.9 from deep while taking 12 less shots than King’s.
But in the second half, Rutecki and Oliver poured it on heavy. Rutecki, who finished 8-for-11 from the field, scored 12 of the Monarchs 39 second half points. The team also shot a whopping 58.3 percent from the field and 60 percent from deep.
Outside of Oliver, the consistent Rutecki got in his groove at the right time for King’s. Andrejko said that’s what he expects from last season’s conference Rookie of the Year
“He came back bigger and stronger this year and [being the catalyst for the team] is going to be his role,” Andrejko said. “As the younger guys develop and get more confident they’re going to come. Danny’s been there…he’s a player and he can handle [that role] from a mental and emotional standpoint. He wants the ball.”
The Nittany Lions finished shooting a miserable 28.6 percent from deep, missing 10 of their 14 triples. They were led by freshman Jacob Solano’s 21 points as the young guard carved through the Monarch backcourt almost at will.
There are still things to work on for the club, which starts three freshman and a sophomore in their lineup, but they haven’t dropped a contest yet.
Even for the 14th year coach, who received a technical foul for jarring at the referees about hand-checking fouls, admits his team isn’t perfect yet.
“Offensively [there needs to be] more consistency,” Andrejko said. “If you saw us on Saturday we were so fast and so anxious. And tonight in the first half we were so slow. We need to find that balance, and it’s hard. It takes time. That’s going to be the biggest thing.
“They’ll learn,” he said. “I’ll just lose a little hair along the way.”
Tyler R. Tynes covers King’s sports for WRKC Digital, follow him on Twitter @TylerRickyTynes or email him at TylerTynes@Kings.edu