HOBOKEN, NJ (February 5, 2022) -- Despite leading at the half, the King's College men's basketball team dropped a battle on the road, 72-66, at Stevens Institute of Technology on Saturday afternoon. The Monarchs drop to 6-12 overall and 2-10 against MAC Freedom play, while the Ducks improve to 9-8 for the season and 8-4 in conference.

King's (6-12, 2-10 MAC Freedom) came out firing on all cylinders, holding Stevens (9-8, 8-4 MAC Freedom) without a field goal until the 15:05 mark of the first half. The Monarchs lead swelled to 10 with 9:58 to go on a three from first year Chris Patton, but the Ducks chipped away at the lead to trail by four, 34-30, at the halftime break.

The second half was a true back-and-forth battle with three ties and five lead changes with Stevens ahead, 53-51, with 8:21 to go in regulation. The Ducks built a seven-point advantage, 60-53, with 4:31 left, but the Monarchs chipped away and pulled within two on a pair of free throws from sophomore Carmine Castiello with 3:34 to go. Stevens tried to run away with this contest with a 6-2 run before Patton answered with a jumper with 18 ticks on the clock. Out of the King's timeout, the visitors were forced to foul where the Ducks went a perfect 4-for-4 down the stretch to seal the 72-66 win in MAC Freedom match up.

Patton came off the bench to lead the Monarchs with 20 points on 7-of-11 shooting, including 4-of-7 from three, while Castiello added 16 points on 6-of-12 shooting with five rebounds and two helpers. First year Eamonn Walsh was the other Monarch in double figures with 10 points, adding three boards and two assists, while senior Noah Tanner dished out a team-best six dimes and collected a team-high five steals. Additionally, junior Collin Cook came off the bench to collect a team-leading six boards.

Matt LaCorte led three in double figures for Stevens with 22 points and three steals, while Jack Spellman and Alec DiPietrantonio both collected 10 boards.

The Monarchs shot a solid 44.4 percent (24-54) from the floor in the loss, dishing out 16 assists on 24 baskets. King's defense also forced 19 Ducks turnovers, collecting 13 steals. Inside the stat sheet, King's won the battle in points off turnovers (21-8) and bench points (29-18).

King's returns to McGrane Gymnasium for a two-game home stretch as they host DeSales University on Wednesday night at 8:00 p.m. in the night cap of the MAC Freedom doubleheader.