Complete Game Notes (PDF)

Wilkes (1-0) at 29th Annual Scotty Wood Tournament
at Muhlenberg College 
Friday - Saturday, November 19 - 20 
Memorial Hall / Allentown, PA

PARTICIPANTS
Muhlenberg / Gallaudet / Rosemont

LIVE STATS 
vs. Gallaudet / Saturday's game vs. Muhlenberg or vs. Rosemont

LIVE VIDEO
Muhlenberg Athletics

AT A GLANCE
The Colonels follow up a successful 2010-11 season opener as they travel to Allentown for the 29th Annual Scotty Wood Tournament at Muhlenberg College this weekend. Wilkes will play Gallaudet on Friday at 3:00 p.m. and will then play either Rosemont or Muhlenberg on Saturday evening at a TBD time. 

LAST TIME OUT
WU opened up its new season with a convincing 74-45 win at PSU Hazleton on Monday evening.

The Colonels took control early, getting out to a 24-9 lead 10 minutes in, before going on a 12-3 run over the next 6:15 and going into halftime with a 42-19 advantage. All 18 Colonels saw playing time as Sr. G Chris DeRojas (Dallas/Bishop O'Reilly) led all scorers with 22 points on 6-15 FGs and 6-6 FTs. He also grabbed 6 boards and had 4 steals.

Jr. F Paul Huch (Tuckerton, NJ/Pinelands Regional) added 10 points, getting 8 rebounds, 5 assists, 4 steals and 3 blocks and Jr. G Matt Mullins (Binghamton, NY/Chenango Valley) chipped in with 16 points in his WU debut.

THE CAPTAINS
The trio of captains for the Colonels this season will be DeRojas, Huch and Jr. C Kendall Hinze (Lewisberry, PA/Red Land). The leading returning scorer for Wilkes, DeRojas is also the only senior on the team.

Stepping up their leadership roles for the team this season are Huch and Hinze, who have both earned valuable playing time during their two years on campus. Starting 20 games last season, Huch was 4th on the team in scoring (9.4 ppg) and 3rd in rebounding (5.9 rpg) and added 35 steals and 30 blocks.

Hinze started each of the last three games for the Colonels last season and five times scored in double-figures, including a double-double (13 pts, 10 rebs) against John Jay.

WHO'S GONE
Tom Kresge (Brodheadsville, Pa./Pleasant Valley) and Anthony Gabriel (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Trinity), who were responsible for 43.6% of the Colonels scoring a year ago have both graduated. They also take with them 397 rebounds (15.8 combined rpg), 81 assists, 49 steals and 39 blocks.

Other players gone from last year are Chris Gulla (Berlin, N.J./Eastern Regional), Matt Meier (Endicott, N.Y./Seton Catholic), Mike Donatoni (Malvern, Pa./Great Valley) and Nic Wilkins (Dushore, Pa./Sullivan County).

WHO'S BACK
The Colonels return nine players, including three starters, from last year's squad. Two of those returning starters, Sr. G Chris DeRojas (Dallas/Bishop O'Reilly) and Jr. F Paul Huch (Tuckerton, NJ/Pinelands Regional), will be starting again as Wilkes will prove to be a very deep team in 2010-11.

Sr. G Chris DeRojas (Dallas/Bishop O'Reilly)       So. G Tyler Breznitsky (Freeland, PA/MMI Prep)         Jr. G Greg Colucci (Brick, NJ/Monsignor Donovan)
Jr. F Paul Huch (Tuckerton, NJ/Pinelands Regional)                 So. G Steve Blish (Monroe Township, NJ/Monroe Township)                So. G Aaron Dombrosky (Shenandoah/Shenandoah)
Jr. C Kendall Hinze (Lewisberry, PA/Red Land)          So. G Cliff Richardson (Bernville, PA/Tulpehocken)       So. C Bernard Edmonds (Exeter/Wyoming Area)

THE CENTURY MARK
Already hitting the 1,000-point mark, DeRojas currently sits 213 points outside the WU top 10 with 1,114 career points. The 22 points he scored on Monday night was his 20th career 20-point game as he went 6-15 from the floor, including 4-11 from 3-point range.

A pure shooter, he has hit 170-478 3FGs (35.6%) in his three-plus seasons,
including 62 as a freshman.

DeRojas has a career average of 14.6 ppg with those 20 20-point games and 4 30-point games, including a career-high of 37 points last year at Lycoming and two seasons ago against Alvernia.

FROM THE FOUL LINE
In addition to being lethal from the outside, DeRojas has also been successful from the charity stripe. He's hit 220-253 career free throws, an 86.9 percentage, including a season-best 94 as a sophomore. He went 6-6 from the line on Monday.

ALL-AROUND THREAT
Huch contributed in a lot of ways for the Colonels last season, getting it done on the offensive and defensive ends of the floor. With a 40.4 FG%, he scored in double-figures seven times, including a season-high 20 at Misericordia.

His 8 steals against FDU last year tied a Wilkes record, while also collecting 5 boards, 4 blocks and 12 points. Huch also led the team in steals and blocks.

Huch picked up where he left off in the season opener, getting 10 points,
8 rebounds, 5 assists, 4 steals and 3 blocks.

MAN IN THE MIDDLE
Hinze enters his first year as a full-time starter in 2010-11 after playing in 50 games with 8 starts his first two years on campus. In both of those seasons he led the Colonels in FG%, connecting on 61.5 percent (96-157) of his shots while scoring in double-figures eight times.

His best game in a Wilkes uniform came last year in a win over John Jay with 13 points on 5-7 FGs, 10 boards, 3 blocks and 2 steals. In the 2010-11 season opener, Hinze scored 8 points and grabbed 7 rebounds in 23 minutes of work.

THE TRANSFER
Coming in from Broome C.C., Jr. G Matt Mullins (Binghamton, NY/Chenango Valley) scored 16 points on 6-13 FGs in his debut with the Colonels on Monday. After playing in eight games as a freshman at Division I Binghamton, Mullins averaged 17 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists a game and was 1st team all-conference last
season before coming to Wilkes.

In high school in New York, Mullins was a two-time all-conference performer and an all-state selection as a senior.

BACKCOURT RESERVES
So. G Cliff Richardson (Bernville, PA/Tulpehocken) saw his minutes increase as last season went on, starting four of the last five games and averaging 29.6 mpg over the final six. He reached season-highs in points with 8 in each of the final two games and had a season-high 6 boards in his first career start against Manhattanville.

Fellow So. G Tyler Breznitsky (Freeland, PA/MMI Prep) started 17 games a season ago but will look to add depth as he comes off the bench at the point this year. 2nd on the team with 54 assists in 2009-10, Breznitsky had a 1.42 assist-turnover ratio in his first season. In his first collegiate game he scored 7 points and dished out 5 assists, getting at least 5 in four of his first five games.

THE FRESHMEN
The Colonels welcome in five true freshmen this season, including G Craig Thomas (Avenel, NJ/Cardinal McCarrick), F Pat Furst (Jamison, PA/Central Bucks West), F Brendan Sheldon (Milford, PA/Delaware Valley), F Allen Heggs (Woolwich, NJ/Episcopal Academy) and F Aaron Wass (Gloucester, VA/Gloucester). Furst is penciled in as the starter at the 4-spot while Sheldon will enter in the rotation with him. Heggs and Wass will battle for time at both forward spots while Thomas will add depth to a talented backcourt group.

Furst got the start on Monday and played 24 minutes while Sheldon came off the bench to play 13 minutes, grabbing 5 rebounds.

THE HEAD MAN
Wilkes head coach Jerry Rickrode enters his 19th season at the helm, compiling a 331-142 (.699) career record heading into the season. He has taken the Colonels to the conference playoffs 15 times, including 10 straight from 1992-93-2001-02. He has also led Wilkes to five straight NCAA Tournament appearances (1994-95-1998-99), including four Sweet Sixteens, three Elite Eights and one Final Four appearance. He's also a four-time NABC Mid-Atlantic Region Coach of the Year and a three-time Freedom/MAC Coach of the year.

Wilkes Under Rickrode:
1992-93 16-9 MAC Playoffs
1993-94 20-6 MAC Playoffs/ECAC South Playoffs
1994-95 25-5 MAC Playoffs/NCAA Tournament
1995-96 28-2 MAC Playoffs/NCAA Tournament
1996-97 20-6 MAC Playoffs/NCAA Tournament
1997-98 26-5 MAC Playoffs/NCAA Tournament
1998-99 25-4 MAC Playoffs/NCAA Tournament
1999-00 16-9 MAC Playoffs
2000-01 23-3 Freedom Playoffs/NCAA Tournament
2001-02 15-11 Freedom Playoffs
2002-03 17-7
2003-04 18-9 Freedom Playoffs
2004-05 15-10 Freedom Playoffs
2005-06 14-10 Freedom Playoffs
2006-07 12-11
2007-08 13-12 Freedom Playoffs
2008-09 15-11 Freedom Playoffs
2009-10 13-12 
                 331-142

THE FRIENDLY CONFINES OF MARTS
The Colonels have been very successful playing at home under Rickrode, putting together a 191-49 (.796) record. In 1997-98, when the Colonels advanced to the Final Four, they went 17-0 and the next year went 14-0, moving on to the Elite Eight. Last season Wilkes went 6-4, including an 81-78 overtime victory over Manhattanville.