WILKES-BARRE, PA (December 3, 2025)- The King's College men's basketball team came away with a 106-99 victory in a triple OT thriller against Centenary University (NJ) on Wednesday night. With the win, the Monarchs improve to 3-5 overall while the Cyclones fall to 2-4 on the season.

King's went into the break tied 39–39 with Centenary after a fast-paced and back-and-forth opening 20 minutes that featured 17 ties and 22 lead changes. The Monarchs fell behind 7–2 early but responded with an 11–0 stretch capped by a Jaden Hall three to go up 13–7. Ben Rodner-Tims and Devin Kimmick powered much of the early offense, combining for several finishes at the rim as King's built its largest lead at 30–19 with 7:40 left.

Centenary countered with a series of runs of its own, using fastbreak points to cut into the Monarchs' advantage. King's bench and balanced scoring helped keep the game close, with 12 first-half assists spreading the offense effectively. After a late basket put Centenary ahead 39–37 with under five seconds remaining, Jake Karnish beat the buzzer with a layup to send the game into halftime even at 39–39.

King's opened the second half with several lineup changes but quickly regained momentum as Karnish converted a layup off a Rodner-Tims assist to give King's a 41-39 lead. The Monarchs responded with baskets from Rodner-Tims, including a three-pointer to tie the game at 44.

Down the stretch, Kimmick hit a three to push the lead to 47-46, which was followed by a Hall jumper from the perimeter to extend King's lead to 49-46.

King's continued to take advantage of opportunities in transition and in the paint. Gooley converted on a tough layup while Karnish, Rodner-Tims, and Ben Malley added key points from the floor and the free-throw line, maintaining a slim lead through a tightly contested stretch. Rodner-Tims's pair of free throws gave King's a 56-54 advantage, and the Monarchs steadily pushed the lead to 62-58 with consistent scoring from Karnish, Rodner-Tims, and Malley.

Midway through the half, King's held a 66-62 lead as Lane and Rodner-Tims scored in the paint, with Karnish converting another layup to extend the margin. Later, Malley hit a three-pointer that cut the deficit to one, keeping King's within striking distance as both teams battled for control heading into the final minutes.

A Malley pull up jumper off a handoff from Karnish smacked the bottom of the net to give King's a 69-68 lead with just over 3:30 to play.

A three off the left wing gave the Cyclones the lead,73-71, with 2:30 to play. A pair of scoreless trips for both teams gave King's the ball back trailing by two with a minute to play.

Amid a hectic possession with just under 30 seconds to play, Rodner-Tims hit a tough step-back jumper with multiple defenders in his face to knot the game back up at 73 apiece with 19 seconds left in regulation. The Cyclones found two opportunities on their last possession via an offensive rebound, but solid Monarch defense forced an errant shot as regulation expired and both teams geared up for overtime.

The overtime period was filled with defensive ferocity as no teams scored a basket in the opening 90 seconds. Rodner-Tims answered the bell, blowing past multiple defenders for an easy layup to put King's ahead 75-73.

After a couple of trips to the free throw line, Centenary had a prime opportunity to take the lead with about two minutes left. Karnish came flying down the lane in help defense to deny the Cyclone shot and give King's possession back.

Trailing 78-76, Karnish came up with a huge offensive rebound, getting fouled on the play and converting on both free throws to tie the game at 78-78 with 40 seconds left. Centenary came down the court in a hurry, scoring a quick basket to pull ahead by two once again with 31.9 left.

In true back-and-forth fashion, Kimmick hit a three on the following possession as the Cyclones took the lead right back with 11.9 to play. Rodner-Tims drove to the basket and was fouled with 1.5 seconds to play. Trailing by one, the junior guard converted on one of two free throws as Centenary grabbed the board while the first overtime clock expired.

The Cyclones opened the second overtime period with a quick 4-0 run as the Monarchs answered with a 4-0 stretch of their own, tying the game back at 86 with 2:30 to play.

Centenary responded with another 4-0 run to pull ahead 90-86, which Malley cut to two with a pull up jumper. After a Cyclone free throw, Malley showed up once again, burying a three to tie the game with just seconds remaining. A missed shot from each team sent the game to its third overtime period tied at 93-93.

Malley continued to display the hot hand, scoring the first points of the overtime period with a left-wing three to put the Monarchs up 96-93. With a one-point, 98-97 lead with 1:45 remaining, Malley found Karnish for a front door layup to give King's a 100-97 advantage. After turning over the Cyclones, the Monarchs gave possession right back as Centenary's fastbreak layup brought the lead back to one.

Centenary was able to force a miss from King's and immediately got out in transition. Malley displayed some great hustle getting back as the Monarchs forced a missed layup and grabbed the defensive rebound.

On the way down from the rebound, a scuffle surmounted where one Cyclone player was tabbed with a common foul while another was charged with a technical foul, giving King's four free throws and possession. Gooley converted on all four free throws for the Monarchs to give them a five-point lead with 22 seconds left.

The deficit proved to be too much for Centenary as King's held on to win 106-99.

This marked the first time since 2010 that the Monarchs competed in a game that went to the third overtime period to determine a winner.

Malley led King's offensively with a 31-point career high performance, closely followed by another career-high from Rodner-Tims, as he added 29 points and 10 rebounds to secure the double-double. Malley shot 11-of-19 from the field and 7-of-12 from deep while Rodner-Tims shot 12-of-24 from the field. Karnish also recorded another personal-best on Wednesday night, grabbing a staggering 19 rebounds to go with his 16 points.

 Hall and Kimmick each finished in double figures as Hall contributed 10 points with Kimmick putting up 10 points and 11 boards. Gooley nearly had a double-double of his own, scoring nine points and collecting 10 rebounds.

King's men's basketball returns home to McGrane Gymnasium on Saturday as they are set to host Marywood University for a 3:00 p.m. tipoff.