King’s, which held a 42-39 lead at intermission, used an 8-0 run to take a 68-57 lead with 10:07 remaining in the game. Jamie Cousart and Jim Welsh connected on consecutive three-pointers for the Monarchs to turn a 60-57 lead into a 66-57 advantage. Thomas Moore would add a bucket inside to push the lead to 68-57.
Wilkes would not go away quietly however. The Colonels embarked on a 17-5 spurt to take the lead late in the contest. A pair of free throws by Matt Gould and a Chris Shovlin jumper cut the lead to 68-61. After Marty O’Hora hit one charity toss for King’s, Evan Walters, Gould and Shovlin each scored field goals to pull Wilkes within 69-67 with 6:18 left.
Vince Scalzo converted a traditional three-point play for King’s to up the Monarchs edge to 72-67. A three-pointer by the Colonels’ Mike Constantine and a free throw by Scalzo made it 73-70 with 5:26 left. Gould and Shovlin would score on back-to-back drives to give Wilkes a 74-73 lead with 4:47 left.
King’s would follow with their decisive run to take command. Scalzo hit four straight charity tosses to provide his team with a 77-74 lead with 3:48 left. Moore would then score inside at the 2:29 mark and hit one free throw with 1:38 left to move the King’s lead to 80-74. The Monarchs would hit eight consecutive free throws down the stretch to claim the win.
The Monarchs would use the charity stripe to their advantage to overcome a 29-27 deficit in field goals made. King’s was successful on 25-of-33 free throws in the contest, while Wilkes made 10 free throws in 13 trips to the line.
Scalzo, who was 12-of-13 at the charity stripe, finished with 21 points to lead King’s. Horgan added 20 points and six rebounds. O’Hora had 14 points and Cousart canned 11 tallies and grabbed six rebounds.
Shovlin hit 13-of-25 field goal attempts on his way to a career-high 32 points. He also had four assists and four steals. John Yanniello, who was 5-of-7 from three-point range, added 19 points for Wilkes. Greg Cardamone grabbed a game-high eight rebounds as well.