DALLAS, PA (January 29, 2020) -- The King's College men's basketball team battled back from down 20 at the half to outscore the Misericordia Univeristy Cougars in the second half, 34-25, but their efforts fell just short as they fell to the host Cougars, 73-62, in the Anderson Center Wednesday night in Middle Atlantic Conference Freedom (MAC Freedom) play.

The Monarchs led early, 4-2, off back-to-back baskets by sophomore Jake Pawliczak. Misericordia responded, going on a 22-7 run over the next 6:05 of play to take a 24-11 lead. King's pulled within 11 off a jumper by senior Andrew Hudak before the Cougars used another 19-5 run to build a 23-point lead, 43-20, with 4:27 left in the opening half. Another bucket by Hudak brought the Monarchs within 18, but the Cougars answered with a 4-2 run to end the half with the lead, 48-28.

A 9-3 Monarch run to start the second half, led by senior Josh Bailey with six points, pulled King's within 14, 51-37. The teams traded baskets over the next 8:19 of action before a three by freshman Tyler Faux with 9:21 saw King's trailing by 10, and Pawliczak followed with a layup to close the gap to just eight points. Misericordia rebuilt their lead to 11, 63-52, with 6:36 to play before a 10-5 run by the Monarchs saw them within six, 68-62, off a three by sophomore Patrick Galvin with 2:16 left. King's was forced to foul and put the Cougars on the line where they connected for 5-of-6 down the stretch to seal the win and break the Monarchs' three-game win streak in a hard-fought conference battle.

King's (10-8, 3-4 MAC Freedom) was led by four in double figures behind Pawliczak who totaled 16 points on 7-of-14 shooting with seven rebounds and three assists. Hudak totaled 15 points on 6-of-10 shooting, and Faux and Bailey added 12 each as Faux led with four assists and three steals and Bailey shot 4-for-7 with three assists. In addition, senior Joe Lonardi pulled down six boards and Galvin added five.

Misericordia (7-11, 3-4 MAC Freedom) was led by Noah Rivera with a double-double, totaling a game-high 22 points and 14 rebounds with three blocks. Nate Kreitzer added 17 points, six rebounds, and four assists, while Tony Harding recorded nine points and 10 boards.

The Monarchs shot 37.9 percent (25-66) for the game, including 33.3 percent (6-18) from three. They also recorded 16 assists on their 25 field goals while adding 34 rebounds in the loss. King's forced 12 Misericordia turnovers, totaling seven steals, and committed just seven turnovers as a team. Inside the box score, the Monarchs held the advantage in points off turnovers, outscoring the Cougars, 14-8.

King's is on the road again as they head to Center Valley, PA to take on the DeSales University Bulldogs at 3:00 p.m. in the second game of the doubleheader with the women's team.