Box Score

Hammonds Scores 32 to Lift King's Past Muhlenberg

Allentown, Pa. -- Senior guard Kyle Hammonds led four King's players in double figures as the Monarchs earned a 96-82 victory over host Muhlenberg Monday night at Memorial Hall.

The Monarchs evened their record at 6-6 and with the win head coach J.P. Andrejko earned his 201st victory tying him with Ed Donohue for the most in King's history. Muhlenberg is now 8-3.

With 15:17 to play in the second half Alec Stavetski gave Muhlenberg their largest lead of the game 46-39 with a layup. Dan Rutecki and Hammonds netted layups to cut the deficit to 46-43. After a Malique Killing basket, Rutecki got King's to within two, 48-46, with an old-school 3-point play. Stravetski converted on three free throws after a Hammonds foul to push the lead back to 51-46.

Hammonds answered with a triple of his own on the next King's possession, but a pair of Mules free throws kept the lead at 53-49 with 12:42 to play. King's finally took the lead with an 11-0 run keyed by six points from Hammonds giving the Monarchs a 60-53 advantage with 10:05 left in the game.

The Mules came back with a 9-0 spurt of their own to get within one, 60-59, with 9:06 remaining, but a Nate Oliver jumper and four Hammonds free throws pushed the King's lead back to 66-59.

Muhlenberg was able to get as close as seven, 73-66, with 4:53 to play, but the Monarchs closed out the game shooting 14-of-16 from the charity stripe to close out the game.

In the first half the teams traded buckets early with the Mules gaining a 13-8 edge at the 14:13 mark on a layup by Brandon Bovino. King's responded with a 10-4 run to take an 18-17 lead with 9:26 to go in the first frame. The Mules regained the lead and pushed it to four, 30-26, with 4:28 in the first and the team traded baskets before Muhlenberg took a 37-33 lead into the break.

Hammonds led all scorers with 32 points shooting 11-of-19 from the floor and a perfect 7-of-7 from the free throw line. He also grabbed seven boards and dished out four helpers. Joe Caffrey tallied 19 points. Rutecki tallied 14 points, 10 from the charity stripe, as well as six rebounds. Oliver also picked up 14 points.

Austin Curry led the way for the Mules notching 18 points, three rebounds and three assists. Killing and Stavetski each tallied 15 points.


The Monarchs evened their record at 6-6 and with the win head coach J.P. Andrejko earned his 201st victory tying him with Ed Donohue for the most in King's history. Muhlenberg is now 8-3.

The Monarchs are back in action on Saturday when they host Penn State Wilkes-Barre at 3:00 p.m. at Scandlon Gymnasium.