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Patrick Galvin’s shot kept King’s playoff hopes alive. And it ended those of the Monarchs’ two local rivals.

Galvin’s tiebreaking foul-line jumper with 3.4 seconds remaining on Saturday gave King’s a 73-71 win over Wilkes at the Scandlon Center, keeping the Monarchs in a tie for the final playoff spot in the MAC Freedom Conference. It also knocked both the Colonels and Misericordia out of contention when the Cougars lost to DeSales.

King’s and FDU-Florham are both 6-6 in league play with two games left to play while Wilkes and Misericordia fell to 3-9.

“The last week and a half every game has been a playoff game,” King’s coach J.P. Andrejko said. “We put Wilkes three games behind us with two games to play. We did what we had to do.”

This latest win over the Colonels was nothing short of dramatic, as Wilkes tied the game up with under 30 seconds left. But it left enough time for King’s to set up a play to go for the win.

The Monarchs held the ball until there were 10 seconds left on the clock. They put the play in motion, and Galvin took his shot from the free-throw line.

“We ran that play against them at the end of the first half at their place earlier in the year,” Galvin said. “Coach said we were doing it again, and he trusted me with the ball in my hands to make a play.”

The drama was still far from over. After a timeout, the Colonels sent the ball down the court towards Jake Robel. He threw a pass out to Donovan Breeding for the potential game-winning three-pointer. The shot went up and into the basket, but the officials blew the play dead, saying that Galvin fouled Robel on the inbound pass, putting Robel on the line with a chance to tie with 2.2 seconds left.

Robel was 2-for-5 from the stripe at that point, and he missed his first of the two shots. He intentionally missed the second so his team could try for a rebound, but King’s Pat Mitchell swallowed it up to end the game.

The Monarchs struggled early with Wilkes’ press, but they found answers as the game moved on.

They also had a lot of success shooting on the perimeter. King’s shot over 36 percent from beyond the arc. They shot 43 percent from the field.

“We know they have been coming with pressure,” Andrejko said. “We were tentative at first but once we started attacking it we did a much better job.”

Wilkes shot 41 percent from the field but just 17 percent from behind the arc.

Tyler Faux led the Monarchs with 15 points on five threes while Josh Bailey and Galvin scored 13 apiece.

Rob Pecorelli led the Colonels with 23 points, followed by Mark Mullins (17) and Drake Marshall (12).

Women close in on playoffs

Rebecca Prociak and Mackenzie Yori had big games for King’s as they took another step towards securing a spot in the MAC Freedom playoffs with a 95-78 win over Wilkes.

“We were making shots and even though we went through that dry spell, the fact that we came in with all that emotion of senior day and the crowd it carried us through,” King’s coach Caitlin Hadzimichalis said. “We are starting to get back to what works and building momentum.”

King’s built a comfortable 28-point lead with 3:35 left in the third quarter.

Wilkes came back with an answer, though. After trailing by double-digits most of the game, the Colonels used a 17-0 run to get back into it.

“I’m so proud of our kids because we fight until the final buzzer,” Wilkes coach Tara Macciocco said. “They play as hard as they can, and they did a great job getting back into the game.”

After their lead was cut to 11 points, the Monarchs settled down and kept the lead over 10 for the remainder of the game.

Prociak continued her dominant campaign with another double-double. She led the team with a game-high 25 points and 10 rebounds. She also had five blocks, seven assists and two steals.

“We just try to play together,” Prociak said. “We need to start doing that again. Like when they double me, I try to kick the ball out.”

Yori also scored 20 points and Samantha Rajza had 17. Wilkes finished with six players in double figures led by 17 off the bench from Brenna Babcock.

King’s grabbed sole possession of the third MAC Freedom playoff spot after Eastern lost to Stevens.

“We need to clean up the defense and do what we do best,” Hadzimichalis said. “These last few games have given us confidence and we are getting back to doing what works.”

King’s will have a critical game against Misericordia on Tuesday as the Monarchs will continue to push for the second seed in the MAC Freedom.

DeSales currently owns the top seed and will need one more win to clinch it. The Monarchs went 1-1 against the Bulldogs this season and 1-1 against Eastern, the other current playoff team.

“The fact that we have a win over DeSales and nobody else does is a huge confidence booster,” Hadzimichalis said. “We are going to do what we do and take it regardless.”