WILKES-BARRE, PA (February 18, 2020) -- The King's College men's basketball team trailed the visiting Misericordia University Cougars, 44-23, at the half and could not recover as they dropped the Middle Atlantic Conference Freedom (MAC Freedom) contest, 89-73, in McGrane Gymnasium Wednesday night. The Monarchs currently stand tied for fourth place in the conference with FDU-Florham to remain in the hunt for the final playoff spot.

The start of the doubleheader was a back-and-forth ordeal, as King's trailed, 11-9, with 16:30 left in the opening half. Misericordia then went on an 11-0 run to take a 22-9 lead before a three by freshman Tyler Faux stopped the run with 11:14 to go. The Monarchs pulled within 10 off a three by senior Josh Bailey with 6:51 remaining, but the Cougars recorded a 17-6 run to end the half leading the Monarchs, 44-23.

King's battled early in the second half to cut the deficit to 11 off a transition three by freshman Sean Murphy with 16:07 left in the contest. The Monarchs kept the Cougars within 16 over the next 7:10 of play, but Misericordia built their lead to 20 with 8:57 to go. King's battled the rest of the way, pulling within 15 off a layup by senior Joe Lonardi with 52 seconds left in the game as they posted the final, 89-73.

Faux led the offense with 21 points on 7-of-15 shooting with five threes, and senior Andrew Hudak recorded his first double double of the season with 13 points and 11 boards, adding four assists. Bailey and Murphy rounded out the offense as Bailey totaled 13 points, four assists, and two steals, and Murphy came off the bench to record 12 points. In addition, sophomore Patrick Galvin kept up his all-around effort with six points, five rebounds, four assists, and two steals.

Misericordia (8-16, 4-8 MAC Freedom) was led by Diby Keita with 20 points on 8-of-11 shooting, and Nate Kreitzer totaled 17 points, seven rebounds, and six assists. Joseph Baldachino came off the bench to record 13 points, and Patrick Douthit also recorded double figures with 12 points.

As a team, King's (13-11, 6-7 MAC Freedom) shot 32.4 percent (26-76) from the field and 31.6 percent (12-38) from three, but they could not match Misericordia's 52.4 percent field goal percentage in the loss. They totaled 19 assists on their 26 field goals and forced 17 Cougars turnovers, committing nine steals.

The Monarchs are back in action on Saturday as they head to Hoboken, NJ to face Stevens at 1:00 p.m. for the chance to keep their playoff hopes alive.