Box Score
The Wilkes men's basketball team opened the 2008-09 season in fine fashion, reaching the century mark in a 100-84 win over Baptist Bible.
The Colonels shot 54.2 percent in the game, including 60.6 percent in the second half, and had three players score 20-or-more points.
Steve Kline (Bridgewater, N.J./Bridgewater-Raritan) nearly missed a triple double by scoring a team-high 27 points to go along with nine rebounds and eight assists.
Tom Kresge (Brodheadsville, Pa./Pleasant Valley) recorded a double-double with 24 points and 14 rebounds, while
Chris DeRojas (Kingston, Pa./Bishop O'Reilly) added 22 points of his own.
The difference in the game came inside the paint where the Colonels out-scored Baptist Bible 56-40. The inside game also gave Wilkes the advantage at the free-throw line, hitting 16-of-18 from the charity stripe, while BBC attempted just eight free-throws, making seven.
The Colonels never trailed in the game as Kline made a layup 20 seconds into the game. Travis Wash would tie the game at two with a 15-foot jumper, but Baptist Bible would come no closer.
DeRojas would make one of his four three-pointers on the night with 16:06 to go in the first to put the Colonels up by nine, but their lead would not reach double-digits until he would hit a pair of free throws with 4:37 to go. During that span, Wilkes went on an 11-0 run to lead 44-29 with 3:39 to go in the half before Nathan Greve ended the drought with a three-pointer with 2:31 to go. Greve led all scorers with 29 points, hitting 11-of-21 from the field, including 6-of-9 from beyond the three-point line.
DeRojas would hit two more free throws with just over a minute to play to give the Colonels a 50-33 lead, their largest of the game. Neither team would score again as Wilkes would go into the half with a 17-point advantage.
Wilkes would open the half with three-straight field goals including three-pointers from DeRojas and Kresge. With 18:21 to play the Colonels led by 23 (58-35) and would eventually lead by 24 when John DeFeo converted a layup and the free throw attempt with 16:48 to play.
Baptist Bible caught fire, hitting four three-pointers in a four-minute span that led to a 14-2 run that brought it within 12 (63-51) with 12:27 to go. BBC would pull within 11 twice with less than five minutes to play, but it would only score six points over the last two minutes to play that ruined any chance of a comeback.
Wilkes' inside game not only took control offensively, on the glass as well as the Colonels out-rebounded Baptist Bible 48-34.
The Colonels will be back in action tomorrow night when they face Penn College at 7 p.m. in the Marts Center.
