GLENSIDE – DJ Gardner was on fire all game for the Arcadia University men's basketball team, notching a career-high 27 points as the team ran past King's College on Saturday afternoon by an 81-54 final in Middle Atlantic Conference Freedom (MAC Freedom) action on Saturday afternoon inside Alumni Gymnasium.
 
The Knights improved to 11-5 in league play and 12-13 overall with the victory.
 
The Monarchs began the contest on a 9-4 run before Arcadia retook the lead at 13-12 following a Jalen Watkins and-one layup and free throw. In all, the Knights used a 17-3 run, leading 21-12 with 9:46 left in the first half.
 
King's trimmed the lead to 28-22 with 4:26 remaining before Arcadia finished the half on a 9-2 run, leading 37-24 after the first 20 minutes.
 
The Monarchs cut their deficit to 12 at 43-31 with 17:16 left in the second half before the Knights went on an 11-0 run highlighted by three Gardner three-pointers to take a 54-33 lead with 15:55 on the clock.
 
The advantage was cut back down to 12 with just under 12 minutes on the clock at 59-47 before a 17-0 run helped Arcadia to its biggest lead of the game at 29 with the score 76-47 with 4:28 remaining. The Knights cruised to the victory from that point, reaching the 27 point difference.
 
Gardner led all scorers with 27 points on 9-of-14 shooting from deep. Dom Vazquez added 11 points off the bench.
 
Chris Patton led King's with 13 points while Patrick Galvin added nine points.
 
The Knights return to action on Wednesday for the MAC Freedom tournament. Arcadia, the No. 3 seed, will host the No. 6 seed Misericordia inside Alumni Gymnasium for a 7:00 p.m. tip-off.