Wilkes-Barre, Pa. (February 21) – Despite a career-high 25 points from first-year Aidan Newman (Gainesville, Fla.), the ninth-seeded FDU-Florham men's basketball team lost in the opening round of the 2022 Middle Atlantic Conference Freedom (MAC Freedom) postseason tournament to eighth-seeded King's College (Pa.), 78-73, inside McGrane Gymnasium.
 
FDU-Florham sees its season come to a close with a 4-22 overall record, while King's College, now 8-15 on the year, moves on to the MAC Freedom quarterfinals and will play at DeSales University on Wednesday, February 23 at 8:00 pm.
 
The Devils held a 32-19 lead following a 17-4 run that lasted just under four minutes midway through the opening half. The run saw five different student-athletes convert shots from behind the arc and was led by five points from Newman. FDU shot at a 64.7-percent (11-for-17) clip from downtown in the first half.
 
King's, however, answered with a 19-5 run of its own before the break and cut FDU's lead to just two (40-38) after 20 minutes of play. 
 
FDU led 48-42 early in the second following a layup by Brian Nichols (Roxbury, NJ) 3:17 into the stanza. King's went on another lengthy run, this time 20-2 to go ahead by a 62-50 score with 11:43 to play in regulation. The Devils chipped away and a three pointer by Jamal Santana (Randolph, NJ) cut their deficit to three at 69-66 with 5:58 to play.
 
A trey by Matthew Johnson (Oak Ridge, NJ) and a jumper by Newman made it a one point game (74-73) with just over two minute left on the clock, but a jumper and two free throws down the stretch by King's sophomore Carmine Castiello sealed the game for the hosts, 78-73.
 
In addition to Newman's 25 points, Johnson scored 14, Oliver Ortman (North Caldwell, NJ) scored 12 and Nichols chipped in with eight points and eight boards. As a team, FDU shot 49.0-percent (25-for-51) from the floor, 57.6-percent (19-for-33), and 80.0-percent (4-for-5) from the free throw line.
 
King's shot 57.9-percent (33-for-57) from the floor, 35.0-percent (7-for-20) from three-point range and 83.3-percent (5-for-6) from the free throw line. The Monarchs scored 34 of their 78 points in the paint and 19 points off of 12 FDU turnovers. In addition to his 23 points, Castiello posted eight rebounds, seven assists and six steals. Eamonn Walsh tallied 20 points, two steals, four rebounds and three assists, while Chris Patton added 16 points for the hosts.

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