SCRANTON, PA (January 4, 2025) -- Ben Rodner-Tims made it a four-point game with four seconds remaining, but the Royals iced the game with a pair of free throws with two ticks to play as the King's College men's basketball team fell, 67-61, in their final non-conference game of the season at the University of Scranton on Saturday afternoon. With the setback, the Monarchs drop to 5-4 overall, while the Royals improve to 6-5.
 
The host Scranton (6-5) had a hot streak to start the game, jumping out to an early 12-0 lead with 17:23 to go, but a three from Rodner-Tims got King's (5-4) on the board to spark an 8-0 run. The Royals went cold from the floor, scoring just four points over the next 9:44 of the clock as the Monarchs cut the deficit to three, 16-13, on a three from Devin Kimmick with 9:01 remaining in the half.
 
After trading scores, a tip in layup from Garrett Burys gave King's their first lead of the game, 21-19, with 4:24 left in the first. The game went back-and-forth, featuring two lead changes and a tie, before Eamonn Walsh scored the next seven points for the Monarchs to give them their largest lead in the opening 20 minutes, 29-24, with 2:01 left. Both teams connected for one more basket in the half as King's entered the halftime break leading Scranton, 33-29.
 
King's maintained their advantage over the first 2:23 of the second before a pair of free throws from the Royals tied the game at 37 all with 17:37 remaining. The Monarchs went on a 7-5 run, including three points from Chris Patton, but a triple from Will Marion put Scranton up, 45-41, with 12:54 remaining.
 
It was a battle over the next stretch as the host Royals built their edge to as much as six, 55-49, with 8:00 to play, before Patton drained a pair of threes, Jake Karnish converted on a put back, and Eamonn Walsh hit a jumper in the put King's back on top, 59-57, with 2:55 left.
 
Scranton went to the charity stripe down the stretch, connecting on 8-of-9 as the Royals lead jumped to 65-59 with 12 ticks to go. On the next King's possession, Rodner-Tims was rejected but got his own miss and laid it in to make it a four-point game, 65-61, with four seconds remaining. Out of the Monarchs timeout, King's was forced to foul where Will McLoughlin sunk the pair to seal the win as the Monarchs fell, 67-61, in their non-conference finale at Scranton on Saturday.
 
Walsh led the scoring with 14 points on 5-for-10 shooting, adding two steals, while Patton put up 13 points with a pair of steals. Devin Kimmick came off the bench to score 13 points on 5-for-7 shooting, including 3-for-4 from beyond the arc, and Rodner-Tims added nine points, six assists, four rebounds and a steal. Karnish led the team with 11 boards, and Burys blocked a pair of shots in the setback.
 
McLoughlin paced the Royals with 18 points, four rebounds, three assists, two blocks, and a steal, while Tahaj Parland scored 13 to go along with five assists, three steals, and three rebounds.
 
King's shot 42.1% from the floor in the game, dishing out 15 assists on their 24 field goals. The defense forced 11 Royals miscues, resulting in an 18-14 advantage in points off turnovers in the contest. The Monarchs had the edge in the rebounding margin, 37-32, over Scranton as well as the upper hand in second-chance points (9-5), bench points (19-14), and points in the paint (18-10).
 
The Monarchs set their sights on their Middle Atlantic Conference Freedom (MAC Freedom) schedule as they open conference play on the road on Wednesday night at FDU-Florham. Tip off in the night cap of the MAC Freedom doubleheader is set for 7:00 p.m.