WILKES-BARRE, PA (February 8, 2023) -- The King's College men's basketball team had a balanced team effort, but Lycoming College mustered a comeback in the final two minutes of the game to hand the Monarchs the 67-62 loss in McGrane Gymnasium on Wednesday night in the MAC Freedom match up. The Monarchs fall to 8-14 overall and 3-11 in MAC Freedom play, while the Warriors improve to 14-8 and 9-4 in the MAC Freedom standings.
King's (8-14, 3-11 MAC Freedom) came out strong to start this MAC Freedom contest in front of their electric home crowd. It was an evenly contested match that saw the score tied at 17 a piece with 6:35 left in the opening stanza, but the Monarchs used a 14-4 run over the next 4:36 of action to build a double-digit advantage before heading into the break ahead, 35-28.
Lycoming (14-8, 9-4 MAC Freedom) opened the second half of the game to regain the lead, 39-37, with 16:17 left, but the Monarchs responded to jump back on top with baskets on back-to-back possessions. The Warriors kept the game close as the Monarchs never led by more than six before Lycoming staged their comeback, notching up the score at 58 all with 3:01 remaining. After a pair of free throws from sophomore Eamonn Walsh, Lycoming would rattle off the next seven points to go ahead, 65-60, with 11 ticks left. The Monarchs would get a quick layup from junior Will Johnson but were forced to send Lycoming to the charity stripe where they hit both with five seconds to go to hand King's the 67-62 loss on Wednesday night.
Walsh led all scorers with 25 points, going 6-of-12 from the floor, with four rebounds and two assists. Sophomore Chris Patton also finished in double figures with 11 points, adding six boards, while junior Carmine Castiello collected a team-best seven caroms with two assists. Johnson handed out a team-high three helpers to go along with two steals, and first year Garrett Burys had a balanced game of six points, six rebounds, and two blocks.
Lycoming saw four in double figures led by Steven Hamilton with 14 points, while Dyson Harward had a double-double of 12 points and 14 rebounds to go with two blocks.
King's shot 33.9 percent (19-56) from the floor, totaling 10 assists on their made baskets, while their defense limited Lycoming to 26.1 percent (6-23) from beyond the arc with 14 turnovers. Inside the stat sheet, the Monarchs held the edge in points off turnovers (18-9) and fast break points (7-2).
The Monarchs will wrap up their home schedule on Saturday afternoon. King's is set to host Stevens Institute of Technology in the MAC Freedom match up at 3:00 p.m. while celebrating senior day prior to tip off.
--MONARCHS--