JANUARY 6, 2018

KING'S MEN'S CAGERS FALL AT EASTERN, 88-75

ST. DAVIDS — The King's College men's basketball team fell behind 49-34 at the half and were never able to recover as the Monarchs fell on the road to host Eastern University in a MAC Freedom Conference matchup Saturday in St. Davids.

With the loss, King's slipped to 5-8 overall and 101 in league play while eastern improved to 7-6 and 2-0.

King's jumped out to a 10-5 lead to start the game but the Eagles countered with a 30-7 run over the next eight minutes to build a 35-17 with 8:12 on the clock. King's would get to 11 points when a Connor Callejas lay-up with 1:42 left cut the lead to 40-29, but Eastern outscored the Monarchs 9-5 the rest of the way to take a 49-34 lead into the break.

Eastern shot a whopping 66.7 (18-27) percent from the floor in the first half and was also 66.7 (12-18) percent from the foul line. The Monarchs were unable to keep pace over the first 20 minutes of play, shooting 36.4 (12-33) percent from the floor.

In the second half King's chipped away and used a 13-7 surge to cut the lead to 56-47 with 14:59 remaining.The Eagles, however, reclaimed momentum with a decisive 22-7 run to forge ahead 76-54 with 6:44 to go. King's would come no closer than 11 the rest of the way.

Noah Tanner led King's with 14 points while Chris Fazzini added 13 points and six boards. Callejas added 12 points with three assists while Joshua Bailey and Lenny Radziak contributed eight points apiece. Tyler Millen posted seven points, five rebounds, and three assists while Dan Angelo chipped in with six points and four assists.

For Eastern,  Austin James had a game-high 23 points while Antonio Chapman and Austin Duncan added 15 and 14 respectively. Victor Pena added 1 points and 16 rebounds for the Eagles.

Eastern heeled a commanding 46-22 rebounding advantage and overcame 29 turnovers in the game.

The Monarchs return to action Wednesday with a 6;00 PM matchup at FDU-Florham in Madison, NJ