HOBOKEN, NJ (January 7, 2023) -- On the road on Saturday afternoon, the King's College men's basketball team trailed Stevens Institute of Technology, 39-25, at the half, but despite outscoring the hosts 41-38 in the second half, the Monarchs fell, 77-66, in the Middle Atlantic Conference Freedom (MAC Freedom) match up. With the loss, the Monarchs fall to 5-8 and 1-5 in the MAC Freedom standings, while the Ducks improve to 8-6 and remain unbeaten at 5-0 in conference play.
 
Stevens (8-6, 5-0 MAC Freedom) jumped out to an explosive 10-0 start before a three from sophomore Chris Patton with 15:23 to go in the opening half put the Monarchs in the scoring column. King's (5-8, 1-5 MAC Freedom) hung with the hot-shooting Ducks before heading into the break trailing, 39-25.
 
Thanks to an impressive 48 percent (14-29) shooting in the second half, King's was able to close within six, 53-47, off a fast break layup by first year Brendan Lonergan off a steal from senior Tyler Faux with 10:08 remaining. Stevens rebuilt their advantage before the gritty Monarchs made another run, this time within four points, 64-60, on a layup from sophomore Patrick Bennie with 3:54 to play.
 
Stevens posted a timely 5-0 run to keep the Monarchs at bay. Despite four unanswered points from King's, Stevens performed well from the charity stripe as they connected for 8-of-10 down the stretch to hand the Monarchs the 77-66 loss on the road in Hoboken, NJ on Saturday afternoon.
 
Junior Carmine Castiello posted a team-high tying 14 points on 5-of-10 shooting, adding a team-best six rebounds with three assists, while Bennie matched his effort with 14 points, five boards, and a team-leading three steals. Sophomore Eamonn Walsh tallied 12 points with four caroms and a team-high four dimes, while Patton rounded out the top scorers with 10 points.
 
Matt Leming totaled a game-high 19 points to lead Stevens, going 5-of-9 from beyond the arc, while Jack Spellman added a double-double effort of 15 points, 12 boards, seven blocks, and four assists.
 
King's shot 35.7 percent (20-56) from the floor while dishing out 15 assists on 20 field goals. The Monarchs defensive efforts also forced 20 Ducks turnovers while collecting eight steals. Inside the box score, the Monarchs edged out Stevens in points off turnovers (24-15) and bench points (17-11).
 
The Monarchs will return to McGrane Gymnasium on Monday evening as they host Penn State Lehigh Valley in a non-conference bout starting at 6:00 p.m.