King's Men's Basketball Falls 59-56 at FDU-Florham

Madison, N.J.-- Despite 23 points from senior Matt Fiorino the King's College men's basketball team dropped a 59-56 decision to FDU-Florham in Freedom Conference competition Saturday afternoon at Ferguson Recreation Center.

With 3:09 to play in the game Trevor Sykes drilled a 3-pointer to put the Devils up 55-50. Fiorino hit a pair of treys to give King's its first lead of the second half with 56-55 with just 56 seconds on the clock. On the ensuing possession Mike Williamson missed a 3-pointer, but Will Green grabbed the rebound and was fouled. Green made both free throws to put the Devils up 57-56. The Devils went 2-of-4 from the line the rest of the way to set the final.

The Monarchs came out fast and scored the first five points of the game on a jumper by Chris Hobson and a 3-pointer from Fiorino. The Devils went on an 8-2 spurt to take their first lead of the day capped by a Kevin Furlong triple at the 13:16 mark in the first half.

The game was tied 9-9 with 11:03 before Furlong drained another 3-pointer to spark a 12-4 run to give the Devils their largest lead of the first half 21-13 with 5:51 remainin in the first frame. King's answered with 10-4 spurt of its own to close the half and go into the locker room down 25-23.

FDU came out of the gate fast in the second half jumping out to a 39-29 lead with 13:28 to play in the game.  The Monarchs battled back with a 13-2 run to capped by a two point jumper by Ian Oakely to cut the deficit to 44-42 with 9:32 on the clock. The lead was never greater than four until the Skyes triple at 3:09.

Fiorino scored his 23 points on 8-of-13 shooting including 4-of-9 from beyond the arc. Tom Heston tallied six points and also grabbed a team-high six rebounds. Pat O'Donnell scored a career-high six points off the bench.

Four different Devils reached double figures scoring led by 15 points from Sykes. Green netted 11 points and grabbed eight boards. Furlong chipped in 10 points. Derek Hall had a double-double with 10 points and a game-high 15 rebounds.

With the loss King's fell to 3-3 overall and 1-1 in the Freedom Conference. The Devils are now 1-3 and 1-1 in league play.

The Monarchs step out of conference play on Monday when they host Penn State-Hazleton at 7:00 p.m. at Scandlon Gymnasium.