WILKES-BARRE, PA (December 30, 2024) – To close out the home contests in 2024, the King's College men's basketball team put on a show in front of the packed crowd in McGrane Gymnasium as they defeated cross-town rival Wilkes University, 94-90, in overtime on Monday night. The Monarchs improve to 5-3 overall, while the Colonels suffer just their second loss and drop to 8-2.

The Colonels came out firing, connecting for eight threes across the first 9:34 of action to take a 28-15 lead over King's (5-3). Out of a Monarch timeout, Ray Gooley delivered a five-point spurt to close within single digits, 28-20, with 7:47 to go in the half. After trading possessions, King's connected for 6-of-6 from the charity stripe thanks to Garrett Burys, Jake Karnish, and Chris Patton as the Monarchs cut the deficit to just two, 34-32, heading into the locker room.

Patton and Ben Rodner-Tims scored the first two baskets of the second to give King's their first lead of the game with 18:19 left in regulation. Each team scored on their next trips down the court, but after a free throw from Cayden Merrifield the Monarchs went on a 7-0 run to jump ahead, 45-37, with 15:28 to go. Wilkes (8-2) closed within a bucket with 11:38 to play, but King's had an answer with an 10-2 run to go back up by double digits, 57-46, with 9:44 remaining.

Wilkes kept the deficit within reach over the next 5:02 as they inched within six, 66-60, but a triple from Patton and a tip in from Sean Forrest pushed the Monarchs edge back up to 11, 7-160, with 4:36 on the game clock. The Colonels began their comeback efforts, scoring the next seven points in the game before a jumper from Rodner-Tims got King's back in the scoring column. The game returned to a back-and-forth effort as the teams matched each other's scores before Joey Zvorsky connected inside the paint to make it a two-point game with 54 ticks left.

Merrifield delivered for the Colonels, hitting a pair from the charity stripe with eight seconds remaining. Final attempts as time expired by both squads fell shy as the cross-town rivalry match up went into overtime.

The first seven points in the extra frame came from the free throw line with King's leading, 82-81, with 2:37 left. Zvorksy finished in the paint to put Wilkes ahead for the final time in the contest as Burys shifted the momentum back to King's with a two-handed dunk off a great feed from Jawane Buckner to spark a 9-0 rally by the Monarchs. The Colonels were forced to foul, and King's went 8-for-8 from the stripe in the final 47 seconds to secure the 94-90 victory in overtime in the instant classic.

Patton led all scorers with 32 points, eight rebounds, four steals, and an assist, while Karnish added 17 points, seven boards, and two helpers. Burys totaled eight points, eight rebounds, and four dimers, and Rodner-Tims totaled eight points and four rebounds. Forrest had a solid effort with five steals, four points, and three rebounds, while Buckner came off the bench to snag six boards to go along with seven points, three assists, a block, and a steal.

Merrifield paced the Colonels with 30 points and three steals, while Lucas Lesko added 21 points.

King's shot 42.6% from the floor, dishing out 16 assists on their 29 field goals, while also connecting for 37.5% from beyond the arc. The defense forced 19 Colonel miscues, collecting 11 steals, and the rebounding margin was knotted at 43 a piece at the end of the contest. Inside the box score, the Monarchs had the edge in points off turnovers (22-13), second-chance points (18-13), and bench points (25-20).

The Monarchs will wrap up non-conference play on Saturday afternoon as they make the short trip up to take on the University of Scranton at 3:00 p.m.

--MONARCHS--