WILKES-BARRE, PA (January 2, 2020) -- In their opening game of 2020, the King's College men's basketball team overcame a first half deficit and a poor shooting night from beyond the arc to defeat the visiting Wildcats of Penn College, 72-64. With the victory, the Monarchs improve to 6-3 on the season entering the final weekend before Middle Atlantic Conference Freedom (MAC Freedom) play begins.

It was a slow start for both teams, as neither team has played since December 7. The Monarchs struggled to find their rhythm offensively as they found themselves trailing the Wildcats by 10, 16-6, with 12:07 to go in the opening half. King's inched within four off a three by sophomore Kevin Hunter with 8:17 left before Penn responded to take a nine-point lead with 6:35 remaining in the half. The Monarchs benefited from a 7-6 run to end the half to pull within eight, 35-27, into the locker room.

Out of the break, King's scored back-to-back layups by senior Joe Lonardi before the Wildcats used a 7-2 run to regain a double-digit lead, leading by 11, 44-33, with 15:57 to play. Penn reached their largest lead of the game, holding a 12-point advantage off a three by Carson Garvis with 12:51 left. The Monarchs gained momentum and went on a 12-3 run behind eight points by Hunter and four by senior Andrew Hudak as they trailed by just three points, 52-49, with just under 10 minutes to play. A great defensive play by sophomore Joey Lindsay led to a fastbreak layup to bring the Monarchs within two, 56-54, as the game clock read 6:22, but back-to-back three's by Penn increased the Wildcat lead to eight.

Then, Hudak delivered with a three-point play, and senior Josh Bailey recorded the next four Monarch points to tie the game, 62-62, with 2:43 to play. The two teams traded baskets before a three by freshman Tyler Faux gave King's their first lead of the game, 67-64, with 1:17 remaining. A big defensive stop by the Monarchs led to a transition layup by Faux to build a five-point lead with 57 seconds left before the Wildcats were forced to foul as King's overcame the eight-point halftime deficit to record the final, 72-64.

Four Monarchs recorded double-figures in the win, led by Faux and Hunter with 13 each, with Hunter adding three steals. Sophmore Jake Pawliczak and Hudak came off the bench in their return from injury to provide the offensive spark King's needed, as Pawliczak totaled 11 points on 5-of-6 shooting and grabbed five rebounds and Hudak totaled 10 points and came up just shy of a double-double with nine boards. Senior Josh Bailey also played well, adding nine points and three steals, and junior Brad Kalinowski recorded a team-high five assists, six points, and four rebounds.

As a team, the Monarchs shot 36.8 percent from the field, including 42.86 percent in the second half. They also pulled down 40 rebounds, dished out 14 assists, and recorded 11 steals as they forced 20 Wildcat turnovers. Inside the box score, King's held the advantage in points off turnovers (18-10), second chance points (7-4), bench points (40-2), points in the paint (28-26), and fast break points (9-2).

The Monarchs have a quick turn around and travels to Scranton to play the University of Scranton on Saturday with tip-off set for 3:00 p.m. in the John Long Center. King's will then get set to start MAC Freedom play on Wednesday, January 8 at Eastern University for a double header with the women.