WILKES-BARRE, PA. -- Gwynedd Mercy downed the host King's College, 95-84, Friday night in the First National Community Bank Monarch Classic. The Griffins will now take on Susquehanna, ranked #23 by D3hooops.com tomorrow in the championship game at 3 p.m. The River Hawks defeated Trinity, 62-58, in Friday's other first-round matchup.

Arron Goodman led GMercyU (5-1) with 20 points and nine rebounds as he was one of five players in double digits. Cedric Elleby and Courtney Cubbage each netted 17 while Rip Engel added 14 and Rich Dunham chipped in 11.

The Griffins took an early 7-4 lead after a three-point play from Elleby and would not trail for the remainder of the contest. Dunham's triple game GM a 26-14 lead, its largest of the half, at the midway point of the stanza. King's would climb back, using a 9-1 run at the latter stages to get within 37-34 with just over a minute before the half. Engel would hit a layup off a steal to beat the halftime buzzer to give Gwynedd a 39-34 edge at the break.

Both teams would turn up the offense in the second half, as each would shoot over 60%. Gwynedd was able to keep King's in the rearview mirrors by using a late push to increase their lead to double figures. After a three from the Monarch's Tyler Millan with 3:59 left to pull King's within five (83-78), Engel would kickstart a 6-0 run with his back-to-back three-point plays. He would draw fouls on tough drives to the basket, giving GM an 89-78 edge with 2:52 to go.

For the game, Gwynedd shot 34-of-63 (54%), hitting 9-of-17 (52%) from behind the arc, and outrebound King's, 33-28. Elleby was part of the carom crew, pulling down eight while adding two blocks. Engel doled out four assists while Dunham handed out three.

For Cubbage and Dunham, their point totals were career highs. Manny Lopez would score a season-high nine points in his first career start.