WILKES-BARRE, PA (January 22, 2025) – Chris Patton drained a corner three with 25 seconds to go, and Garrett Burys iced the game from the charity stripe with 0.7 seconds on the game clock as the King's College men's basketball team got back in the win column with a 72-68 win over Delaware Valley University on Wednesday night. With the win in McGrane Gymnasium, the Monarchs improve to 7-7 overall and 2-3 in the conference, while the Aggies drop to 8-8 with a 3-2 conference mark.
Delaware Valley (8-8, 3-2 MAC Freedom) came out firing to start the game, jumping out to an early 10-4 lead with 16:09 to go in the first. A layup from Eamonn Walsh sparked a 12-0 spurt by King's (7-7, 2-3 MAC Freedom) as they took a 16-10 lead with 14:03 remaining in the half. The lead reached 13 off back-to-back buckets from Sean Forrest, but four unanswered points by the Aggies cut the lead to single digits again, 25-16, with 8:30 left. A triple from Jake Karnish capped off an 11-3 rally that gave the Monarchs their largest lead of the half, 36-19, with 3:59 on the clock, but Delaware Valley responded down the stretch as a three from JT Wright III made it an eight-point game, 40-32, heading into the halftime break.
Out of the break, the teams went back-and-forth as the Aggies slowly chipped away at the deficit. A jumper from Antonio Redding allowed Delaware Valley to close within one, 53-52, with 12:21 to go, but Patton and Forrest combined for 12 of the next 14 points as their advantage went back up to 12, 67-55, with 4:58 remaining. King's went cold from the floor as the Aggies connected from the free throw line, sinking 6-of-6, and delivered on a pair of field goals and a three from Mike Herrin that put the visitors ahead, 68-67, with 51 seconds to play.
The Monarchs called a time out, and Karnish found Patton for a three with 25 ticks on the game clock. Delaware Valley then used a timeout, and King's came up with a huge defensive stop, forcing a missed layup that was corralled by Burys. The junior was fouled and sent to the line where he hit both to ice the game with 0.7 seconds left as the Monarchs hung on to defeat Delaware Valley, 72-68, in the MAC Freedom match up.
Patton led all scorers with 27 points as he went 6-for-6 from beyond the arc, adding seven rebounds and three assists, while Walsh 3 points, four assists, and a block. Burys filled the stat sheet with 10 points, eight boards, four blocks, an assist, and a steal, and Forrest came off the bench to finish with 11 points and three rebounds. Karnish posted nine points, and Ben Rodner-Tims dished out seven assists to go along with eight boards.
Antonio Redding paced the Aggies with 23 points and three assists, while Zoelin Pair had a double-double of 12 rebounds and 10 points to go along with four blocks and two steals.
King's shot 46.7% from the floor and an impressive 61.1% from three while handing out 18 assists on their 28 field goals. The Monarchs won the battle on the boards, 39-33, over the Aggies, while also having the edge in second-chance points (13-12), bench points (13-6), and points in the paint (28-22).
The Monarchs will look to defend their home court again on Saturday afternoon as they host Misericordia University. The MAC Freedom contest is set for a 3:00 p.m. start in McGrane Gymnasium.
--MONARCHS--