WILKES-BARRE, Pa. – Delaware Valley men's basketball saw multiple leads slip away in a 72-69 loss to King's College on Saturday afternoon.
Brian Mordi collected an offensive rebound and converted the putback to give the Aggies an early lead before Forrests knocked down a three-pointer for the Monarchs. DelVal trailed by four before Mike Herrin scored inside and Jeremiah Lee followed to tie the game. King's regained the advantage, but Kamal Johnson and Zach Smith connected from long range to keep the Aggies within reach.
The Monarchs built their largest lead of the half at 10 points with 7:05 remaining, but Herrin sparked a 15-0 run with a three-point play. Antonio Redding and Johnson added to the surge as DelVal took a 31-29 lead. After a brief scoring drought, Walker ended the run for King's. Herrin and Lee finished the half with layups, sending the Aggies into the break up six.
Both teams struggled to score early in the second half before Redding hit a jumper and followed with a steal and layup to extend the lead to 10. Rodner-Tims answered with an eight-point run, which was halted by Herrin and a three-pointer from Brendon Bradford. Ryan Everett and Kimmick traded threes before Hall converted a three-point play.
Rodner-Tims brought King's within one, and Smith and Hall exchanged three-pointers. With 8:39 remaining, Redding missed from deep and Forrest converted a second-chance layup to give the Monarchs the lead. Herrin responded with a layup and two free throws to put DelVal back in front.
The Aggies built a five-point cushion with free throws from Redding and Bradford, but King's regained momentum late. Layups from Malley and Hall put the Monarchs ahead by three with under a minute to play. After a timeout with 15 seconds remaining, Herrin's layup attempt was blocked, forcing DelVal to foul. Malley made both free throws, and Bradford's last-second three was off the mark as King's secured the 72-69 win.
Following the loss, the Aggies fall to 8-15 overall and 2-10 in the MAC Freedom. DelVal returns home to face Misericordia on Tuesday, Feb. 17, before closing the season with Senior Day against Lebanon Valley on Saturday, Feb. 21.
