BOX SCORE
WILKES-BARRE – Chris DeRojas (Kingston, Pa./Bishop O'Reilly),
Tom Kresge (Brodheadsville, Pa./Pleasant Valley) and
Steve Kline (Bridgewater, N.J./Bridgewater-Raritan) were a three-man wrecking crew as the Colonels took an 80-71 win over cross-town rival King's in the Freedom Conference opener. The trio combined for 61 points and 19 of the team's 27 field goals.
DeRojas and Kresge scored 21 points each, while Kline put up 19 combining to hit 19-of-35 from the field. As a team, the Colonels shot 51.9 percent, including 45.5 percent from beyond the three-point line. DeRojas was nearly perfect from down town, knocking down four of the five three-pointers he attempted. Wilkes was also efficient at the free-throw line, knocking down 21-of-30 freebies while dominating the glass with 40 rebounds as opposed to 26 by the Monarchs.
The Colonels trailed just once in the game when Wil Acevedo made a layup with 14:28 to go in the first to give King's an 8-7 lead. Just over a minute later, DeRojas gave the Colonels the lead for good with his first three-pointer of the night. His bucket would spark an 11-0, giving Wilkes an 18-8 advantage with 11:21 to go in the first.
They would eventually lead by as many as 13 in the first thanks to a 12-0 run late in the first. DeRojas nailed his third three-pointer of the first half with just two seconds to play, giving Wilkes a 41-33 edge at the break.
King's opened the second half with an 11-5 run to pull within two (46-44) with 16:30 to go, but Kline answered with a layup and converted the free throw to complete the three-point play. Nineteen seconds later, the King's bench was called for a technical foul that led to two more Wilkes points, giving it a 51-44 lead with 15:53 to play.
The Monarchs pulled within five with 3:14 to go when Kevin Conroy converted a layup that capped off a 6-0 run with 3:4 to go. Conroy finished with a game-high 26 points. They would make it interesting with just over a minute to play when Conroy was fouled in the process of making a layup. Conroy's free throw brought the Monarchs within three (74-71), but a 7-0 run to close out the game iced the win for the Colonels.
Wilkes improved to 3-2 on the year and 1-0 in Freedom Conference action. The Colonels will return home Saturday to face Eastern at 3 p.m. in the Marts Center.
