MADISON, NJ (January 8, 2021) -- First year Patrick Bennie and sophomore Peri Basimakopoulos each posted their first career double-doubles to help lead the short-handed King's College men's basketball team to an 89-78 overtime win at FDU-Florham in Middle Atlantic Conference Freedom (MAC Freedom) play. The Monarchs improve to a .500 record overall with the win on Saturday afternoon.

King's (6-6, 2-2 MAC Freedom) led early, 15-8, after a layup from Bennie with 15:45 to play in the opening half. FDU-Florham (3-9, 0-5 MAC Freedom) inched within one, 21-20, with 10:50 left on a jumper from Michael Dabas, but the Monarchs answered with five straight points. The Devils took their first lead of the game, 30-29, with 4:22 left on the clock before a 10-1 run from King's ended the half with the Monarchs ahead, 39-31.

The Monarchs started the second half hot, building a 12-point advantage, 43-31, with 17:57 to go, but the Devils responded with an 11-0 stretch over the next 2:20 of play to pull within one, 43-42. It was a gritty and hard-fought end to the second half that featured five ties and four lead changes, and in the final moments of regulation both teams delivered from the charity stripe to send this MAC Freedom contest to the extra period.

King's dominated the overtime period, outscoring the Devils 12-4 to force an FDU-Florham timeout with 1:54 left in the game. The Devils put the Monarchs on the line in the final seconds of the game, and King's went a perfect 3-for-3 to secure the 89-78 overtime win on the road in MAC Freedom play.

Bennie led all scorers with a career-high 32 points on 10-of-14 shooting, adding a team-high 15 rebounds and a block for his first career double-double. Sophomore Carmine Castiello tallied 20 points with four threes, eight boards, and two steals, while Basimakopoulos totaled 12 points and 12 caroms. Junior Tyler Faux rounded out the double-digit scorers for the Monarchs with 10 points and a team-best three steals, and fellow-junior Sean Murphy dished out a team-leading four assists.

Gerard Nicholson led three in double figures for FDU-Florham with 19 points, four assists, and two steals, while Carson Woods collected a team-high 14 boards.

The Monarchs shot 43.8 percent (28-64) from the floor in the game while holding the Devils to 32.9 percent shooting and 27.6 percent from beyond the arc. King's won the battle on the boards, out-rebounding FDU-Florham 53-40, while taking excellent care of the ball and only committing eight turnovers in the win.

Inside the box score, King's held the advantage in points off turnovers (10-9), fast break points (18-7), and dominated in points in the paint (38-16).

King's is back in MAC Freedom play on Wednesday evening as they travel to top-ranked DeSales University for an 8:00 p.m. tip in Center Valley, PA.