WILKES-BARRE -- Brian Horgan scored eight of the final nine points of the game as the King's College men's basketball team won a thrilling 69-66 victory over cross town rival Wilkes in the MAC Freedom Conference opener for both teams Wednesday in Scandlon Gymnasium.
With the win King's improved to 4-1 overall and 1-0 in conference play while Wilkes slipped to 2-1 and 0-1.
The contest was closely played throughout as neither team led by more than six points. King's took a 39-34 lead at the halftime break and would extend the advantage to 43-37 on a Marty O'Hora basket with 18:15 remaining.
Wilkes would go on a 12-4 spurt and took a 49-47 lead on a three-pointer from John Yanniello. The Monarchs would tie the score on their next possession on a bucket by Jim Welsh with 12:27 on the clock.
For the remainder of the game, the teams traded leads five times while the score was tied eight times.
Wilkes would take a 63-61 lead on a Yanniello basket but Horgan hit two fouls shots to knot the score at 63-63 with 2:44 left. Wilkes regained the lead on a pair of charity tosses by Yanniello but Horgan responded with two more foul shots to tie the score at 65-65 with 1:37 remaining. After a Wilkes miss, Horgan drew another foul and converted two more foul shots to give the Monarchs a 67-65 lead with 1:11 left.
Wilkes' Dan Adams was fouled and made one-of-two attempts to bring the score to 67-66 with 0:47 on the clock. From there Horgan came up huge when he appeared to be stopped but pump-faked a Wilkes defender into the air. Horgan then stepped forward and made a difficult off-balance shot with 0:10 left to give the Monarchs a 69-66 lead. Wilkes had one more shot but Yanniello's three-pointer bounced off the rim as the Monarchs held on to the win.
Horgan, who went 10-for-10 from the foul line, led King's with 19 points, eight rebounds. Marty O'Hora added 17 points and five boards. Freshman Vince Scalzo added 13 points, including eight in the first half, with six rebounds. Fellow rookie Jamie Cousart contributed eight points, eight rebounds, and four assists.
Yanniello led Wilkes with 15 points while Rashawn Pressley added 12. Ryan Milford netted nine points with 11 rebounds while Evan Walters added seven points and 11 boards.
King's travels to face Delaware Valley College Saturday in Doylestown at 3:00 p.m.