WILKES-BARRE, PA (February 9, 2019) – The King's College men's basketball team traveled across town to rival Wilkes University Saturday afternoon, but the Colonels were too much as the Monarchs dropped a 76-51 outcome in Middle Atlantic Conference Freedom (MAC Freedom) play from the Marts Center.

The Monarchs won the opening tip and jumped out on top early, as sophomore Noah Tanner connected on the first field goal of the game to give King's the early lead. The two teams would exchange leads over the first five minutes of the contest, with Wilkes regaining a one-point advantage at 11-10 after a triple from Rob Pecorelli.

The run for Wilkes (16-7, 8-4 MAC Freedom) continued, ending in an 11-0 run after a free throw to give the hosts a 20-10 advantage with 10:49 left in the opening half. King's scored the next five points to trim its deficit to five at 20-15 following a free throw by Tyler Millan, but another 10-0 run from the Colonels made the score 30-15 with just under six to go in the half.

The Monarchs once again responded with a run of their own, notching seven consecutive points to force a Wilkes timeout with 4:10 to go in the period and the score showing 30-22. After the stoppage, the hosts finished the period on a 16-4 run including a Connor Evans three at the buzzer from 30 feet to give Wilkes its biggest lead of the game of 20 going into halftime.

After struggling from deep in the first game of the season series at King's, Wilkes was red-hot from downtown connecting on 9-of-19 from three-land in the first half. Overall, the Colonels made 50 percent from the field, while King's was 9-of-30 overall while committing 12 turnovers. Freshman Jake Pawliczak and Tanner each posted eight points in the first half to lead King's, and Pecorelli came off the bench to register 11 points for Wilkes.

In the second half, freshman JJ Glinsky came off the bench to post eight points but the Monarchs as a team couldn't get much going as the Colonels clinched a MAC Freedom Tournament bid with the win. Pawliczak had another solid game, registering his fourth double-double of the season with team-highs of 12 points and 10 rebounds. The freshman post play was 6-of-9 from the field.

Tanner finished with 10 points and a team-leading two steals, and Glinsky needed eight minutes to score eight points on 2-of-4 shooting from deep. Millan also posted six points for King's, and junior Joe Lonardi came off the bench to grab nine rebounds. The Monarchs dominated on the glass, winning the board battle 52-38, but couldn't turn the extra possessions into points as the Monarchs turned the ball over 20 times and shot 27.3 percent (18-66) from the field.

Pecorelli tallied 17 points off the bench to lead all scorers, and Evans and Tommy Bowen added 12 and 10 points, respectively, for the Colonels. Wilkes was 12-of-35 from downtown, while shooting 43.8 percent (28-64) overall on the contest.

The Monarchs (4-19, 2-10 MAC Freedom) will be back on the road on Wednesday evening, taking on Misericordia University in Dallas, PA in more conference action.