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By MATTHEW CROSS mcross@leader.net
Sunday, January 30, 2000 Page: 3C
WILKES-BARRE – Wilkes University guard Chad Fabian said his team’s game plan
against Scranton on Saturday was to get everybody on the team involved.
So much for planning.
Fabian scored a career-high 42 points to lead the Colonels to an 86-76
come-from-behind victory at the Marts Center. His performance overshadowed a
career-best night for the Royals’ Henry Condron, who had 29 points.
The victory put Wilkes (13-5 overall, 6-3 in the Middle Atlantic
Conference) in a tie with King’s College for first place, setting up another
showdown between the teams on Tuesday at Scandlon Gymnasium. King’s won the
first meeting 71-60 on Dec. 8.
But just 12 minutes into Saturday’s game, Wilkes looked destined to give up
its place in the Freedom League standings and let Scranton and King’s battle
it out.
The Royals built a 19-point lead and left the Colonels scrambling for
answers on the sidelines. Wilkes had never been down by that much at home
since coach Jerry Rickrode took over the program seven years ago.
At the time, Fabian had just four points, his team’s offense wasn’t
clicking and it couldn’t stop the Royals from scoring.
Then Wilkes got a defensive spark from three freshmen, and in a four-minute
span, went on a 13-2 run. The Colonels closed the gap to eight points, and
that was precisely when Fabian turned the game into his show.
“Our motto this year has kind of been, `Don’t quit,”’ he said. “I felt
like I had to step up.”
In the last two minutes of the half, Fabian hit three three-pointers from
the left side, and Scranton went into the break with just a four-point lead.
The senior stayed hot to keep his team close and then scored a layup to tie
the game 69-69 with five minutes left. Fabian had 11 points in the last five
minutes and helped his team go on a 15-2 run to seal the victory.
“He was the answer, and we just could not stop him,” Scranton coach Bob
Bessoir said. “It was the Chad Fabian Show tonight.”
After Wilkes lost All-American guard Dave Jannuzzi for the season after he
suffered a foot injury, and then lost backup guard John Boylan to a knee
injury, Rickrode said a lot of fans counted his team out of the conference
race.
The situation has forced his team to rely on a number of younger players
and find new ways to win.
“Every game we’re going in with a unique game plan,” Rickrode said. “We
have six games left and we’re still experimenting. We can’t dictate like we
always did in the past.
“This team is just fighting for its life. I told them we are playing for a
championship (against Scranton), and we’re going to be playing for a
championship again on Tuesday.” Call Cross at 829-7127. SCRANTON (76) Loftus
4 2-4 12, Callejas 4 2-2 12, Reno 3 0-0 7, Smith 1 0-0 2, Courtney 2 1-4 5,
Traver 0 0-0 0, Condron 10 8-10 29, Shahum 0 1-2 1, Elphick 2 4-8 8. Totals 26
18-30 76. WILKES (86) McLaughlin 2 1-2 5, Colarco 1 0-2 3, Sechler 1 0-0 3,
Barrouk 3 0-0 6, Gotzmer 0 1-2 1, McIntyre 5 6-8 16, Kovach 2 0-0 4, Fabian 13
8-10 42, Hairston 0 0-0 0, Walsh 3 0-0 6, Gallagher 0 0-0 0. Totals 30 16-24
86. Halftime: Scranton, 43-39. 3-pt. FGs: Loftus 2, Callejas 2, Reno, Condron,
Colarco, Sechler, Fabian 8.