Wilkes- Barre, PA (January 3) - The FDU-Florham Men's Basketball (3-9, 0-1 MAC Freedom) team dropped their MAC Freedom Conference opener to King's College (9-4, 1-0 MAC Freedom), 80-72 on Wednesday evening.  

  
FDU was led by Brian Nichols (Roxbury, NJ), who registered 14 points followed by Carson Woods (Phoenix, AZ) who had 12. Nichols also led the team defensively, totaling eight rebounds on the night. King's ad four of their players reach double digit points, being led by Chris Patton with 25 points. 
  
King's opened with two back-to-back three pointers to take a 6-0 lead early in the first half. Micah Moore (West Orange, NJ) answered right back nailing a three pointer at the 15:56 minute mark to cut the Monarch's lead 6-3. However shortly after that, King's went on to score seven unanswered points that extended their lead 13-3. The Devils attempted a comeback again with a 13-4 run that made the score 16-17. This run included baskets from Nichols, Andre Macaranas (Wayne, NJ) and Ethan Klueh (Orlando, FL). The Monarch's fended off the rally when they on a 13-0 run to extend their lead 30-16 with 4:03 left in the half. The Devils were able to end the half with a 13-7 run that cut King's advantage in half with a 37-31 lead heading into halftime.  

 
FDU-Florham opened the second half with a good free throw from Jamal Santana (Roxbury, NJ). Shortly after, the Devils went on an 11-5 to make the score 47-43 at the 14:26 mark. That run included baskets from Santana, Moore, and James Zingaro (Stratford, NJ). Later in the half, Fairleigh Dickinson put together another 10-5 run that ended at the 5:23 minute mark, cutting the Monarch's lead, 67-63. This run was the result of baskets from Nichols, Woods, and Macaranas. Despite the comeback attempts from the Devils, the Monarchs were able to capitalize on late free throw attempts and ultimately beat the Devils, 71-59.  
   
As a team, FDU-Florham shot 35.9 percent (23 for 64) from the floor, 32.4 percent (12 for 37) from the three-point range, and 63.6 percent (14 for 22) from the free-throw line. The Devils tallied 18 points in the paint, 35 points off the bench, and 15 points off turnovers. 
  
King's shot 43.8 percent (21 for 48) from the floor, 60 percent (9 for 15) from the three-point range, and 60.4 percent (29 for 48) from the free-throw line. They totaled 18 points in the paint, 4 points off the bench, and 17 points off turnovers. 
  
FDU-Florham is scheduled to continue conference play on Saturday, January 6 where they will square off against DeSales University at 3:00pm. 
  
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