WILKES-BARRE, PA (December 3, 2022) – The King's College men's basketball team fought valiantly throughout their entire Middle Atlantic Conference Freedom (MAC Freedom) home opener on Saturday afternoon in McGrane Gymnasium, but their efforts fell short as they dropped a 79-75 contest to Delaware Valley University. With the loss, the Monarchs drop to 3-5 overall and 0-3 in the MAC Freedom standings, while the Aggies improve to 4-4 with a 1-1 conference mark.
 
It was a full 40-minute battle among the two conference opponents on Saturday afternoon as Delaware Valley (4-4, 1-1 MAC Freedom) built an early 11-4 advantage. Out of an Aggies timeout with 14:08 to go in the half, King's (3-5, 0-3 MAC Freedom) scored 12 unanswered points to take a 16-11 lead capped off by a three from junior Will Johnson with 10:55 remaining in the opening period. The Monarchs would lead by as much as six, but the game would see seven lead changes that left the Aggies on top, 37-33, at the halftime break.
 
Out of the locker rooms, Delaware Valley would build the first double-digit lead of the game with King's facing a 60-47 deficit with 10:46 to go in the game. The Monarchs would go on a 15-5 run ending with a put back from first year Brendan Lonergan that left 5:35 on the game clock as the Monarchs trailed by just three, 65-62. The Aggies would respond to regain their nine-point lead, and the Monarchs would fight back within four twice, first on a layup by Johnson with 1:02 left and again on a pair of Johnson free throws with 37 ticks remaining. Both teams would tally one more basket in the game, but despite some heroic late efforts from King's, they would fall, 79-75, in the MAC Freedom contest on Saturday afternoon.
 
Johnson posted a game-high 24 points on 8-of-18 shooting while adding team-bests of eight boards, five assists, and three steals. Sophomore Chris Patton added 17 points with six rebounds, four assists, two blocks, and a steal, while first year Garrett Burys tallied 12 points on 6-of-10 shooting with seven caroms and two steals.
 
The Aggies were paced by Rasheem Dearry with 22 points, while Ewens Lizima collected a game-high 10 boards with five assists and four steals.
 
As a team, the Monarchs shot 42.6 percent (23-54) from the floor while holding the Aggies to just 29.0 percent (9-31) from beyond the arc. King's dished out 15 assists on their 23 made field goals and forced 16 Delaware Valley turnovers.
 
The Monarchs will be off for the next week as they observe their finals-week break before returning to play next Saturday, December 10. King's will host Arcadia University in the nightcap of the MAC Freedom doubleheader at 3:00 p.m. in McGrane Gymnasium.