WILKES-BARRE, PA (November 8, 2019) -- Freshman Tyler Faux was stellar in his Monarch debut as he led the King's College men's basketball team to a 70-66 victory over Penn State Hazleton in their home opener Friday night.

King's built an eight-point lead behind two three-pointers and a layup by Faux. The Monarchs built their lead, eventually holding a 16-point advantage before posting the half time score, 41-28.

The second half was a battle between the teams as the score was tied once with three lead changes. The Nittany Lions pulled within single digits, 56-47, off a layup by Scott Shamany as part of his game-high 18 point effort. Penn State Hazleton continued to chip away at the Monarchs lead, closing within three on a three-pointer by Andy Kwiatkowski before the Nittany Lions committed their seventh team foul of the half to send senior Andrew Hudak to the line as he sunk both shots from the charity stripe.

The Nittany Lions scored nine-straight points to take the lead, 62-58, with 5:12 remaining in the game. King's responded scoring six straight of their own behind a layup by sophomore Brad Kalinowski, another Faux three-pointer, and another Hudak free throw to give the Monarchs a two-point cushion, 64-62, with 2:40 left. Penn State Hazleton tied the game on a jumper by Kwiatkowski, but a Hudak layup off an assist by senior Joe Lonardi with 2:30 remaining forced the Nittany Lions to foul over the remainder of the game as sophomore JJ Glinsky and senior Josh Bailey hit their respective pairs to seal the win and post the final, 70-66.

Faux led the Monarchs with a game-high tying 19 points on five-of-11 shooting from beyond the arc. Hudak led the Monarchs bench with 14 points while grabbing six boards. Other top Monarchs performers were Lonardi and senior Tyler Millan, as Lonardi grabbed a team-high eight rebounds with seven points and Millan totaled eight points, four rebounds, and four steals.

As a team, the Monarchs shot 38.7 percent for the game on 24-of-62 shooting while pulling down 33 rebounds and dishing out 17 assists. King's also held the advantage in points off turnovers (11-9) and fast break points (17-10).

The Monarchs are back in action on Tuesday as they host Penn State Worthington Scranton in the second game of the double header in McGrane Gymnasium starting at 8:00 p.m. They head on the road on Friday and Saturday as they are set to play in the Susquehanna Trailways Tip Off Tournament.