Complete Game Notes (PDF)

Wilkes (3-5) hosts the Wilkes-Barre Challenge
Sunday-Monday, January 2-3, 2011
Marts Center / Wilkes-Barre, PA

Game One
Curry 71, King's 65

Game Two
Colonels 98, Albany Pharmacy 61
Game Story

Game Three
King's 99, Albany Pharmacy 53

Game Four
Colonels vs. Curry
Monday / 7:30 p.m.

Tickets
Adults $5 / Seniors and Children $3

LIVE STATS
GoWilkesU.com

LIVE AUDIO
ESPNWilliamsport.com

AT A GLANCE
After a 21-day layoff, the Colonels return to the court as they host the Wilkes-Barre Challenge at the Marts Center on Jan. 2-3. WU will play Albany Pharmacy (3-4 record) on the opening night before playing Curry (1-7) on day two. Cross-town rival King's (5-4) is the fourth team participating in the challenge.

LAST TIME OUT
Sr. C Kendall Hinze (Lewisberry, PA/Red Land) and Jr. F Paul Huch (Tuckerton, NJ/Pinelands Regional) each posted double-doubles but WU lost a thriller at home to Lycoming, falling 72-71 on Dec. 11.

The Colonels came out of the gate strong, taking a 14-2 lead 8:03 into the game. Lycomng battled back, taking a 19-18 lead nearly seven minutes later and went into the locker room with a 32-28 advantage.

WU regained the lead midway through the second half and both teams went back and forth, but the visiting Warriors were too much, making all of their shots down the stretch for the one-point win.

Hinze finished with a game-high 19 points and 10 boards while Huch also had 10 rebounds and added 16 points.

THE CAPTAINS
The trio of captains for the Colonels this season are Sr. G Chris DeRojas (Dallas/Bishop O'Reilly), Jr. F Paul Huch (Tuckerton, NJ/Pinelands Regional) 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.

THE CENTURY MARK
Already hitting the 1,000-point mark as a junior last season, DeRojas currently sits 115 points outside the WU top 10 with 1,212 career points. The 26 points he scored against Baptist Bible was a season-high and was his 21st career 20-point game as he went 8-14 from the floor, including 7-7 from the foul line.

SHOOTING THE “3”
A pure shooter, DeRojas has hit 183-509 3FGs (35.9%) in his three-plus seasons, including 62 as a freshman. This year he has a 40.5 3FG% (17-42), 8th in the Freedom Conference.

DeRojas has a career average of 14.6 ppg with those 21 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. His 15.0 ppg this year is 9th in the conference.

FROM THE FOUL LINE
In addition to being lethal from the outside, DeRojas has also been successful from the charity stripe. He's hit 239-274 career free throws, an 87.2 percentage, including a season-best 94 as a sophomore. He's gone 25-27 (92.6%) from the line so far this season, 2nd in the conference.

ALL-AROUND THREAT
Huch has contributed a lot of ways for WU so far this season, as he's 1st on the team in blocks (15) and steals (13), 2nd in rebounding (6.3) and assists (21) and his 9.5 ppg is 4th. He also has a 45.6 FG%, going 31-68 from the floor.

He posted his 1st double-double of the season with 16 points and 10 rebounds against Lycoming, going 4-5 with 12 points in the second half.

Huch has grabbed at least 5 boards in seven of eight games this year, including a season-high 10 against Gallaudet and Lycoming. Huch is 2nd in the conference in blocks at 1.9 bpg, getting 4 on two occasions, and is 6th in steals with 1.6 spg.

MAN IN THE MIDDLE
Entering his first year as a full-time starter in 2010-11, Hinze has been a force so far for WU down low, as he's 1st on the team with 7.4 rpg and is 2nd with 12.9 ppg. His 64.1 FG% (41-64) is 2nd in the conference while his 1.3 bpg is 3rd.

Hinze recorded his 2nd double-double of the season with 19 points and 10 boards against Lycoming, getting his first with career-highs in points (20) and rebounds (12) against Gallaudet at the Scotty Wood Tournament back in Nov.

He's reached double-figures in scoring six times this year, including each of the past four games, averaging 14.8 ppg and 7.5 rpg over that span. He's posted five games of 7+ rebounds and has had 3 blocks twice this year.

THE TRANSFER
Jr. G Matt Mullins (Binghamton, NY/Chenango Valley), a former star at Broome C.C. and transfer from Division I Binghamton, has started all eight of the Colonels games this season, reaching double-figures in scoring five times. He had his first career 20-point game against Misericordia, netting 24 points on 8-19 FGs in WU's loss.

Making his Colonels debut against PSU Hazleton, Mullins scored 16 points on 6-13 FGs, adding 5 assists in the Colonels win. After playing in eight games as a freshman at Binghamton, Mullins averaged 17 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists a game and was 1st team all-conference last season before coming to Wilkes.

POST EFFICIENCY
So. C Bernard Edmonds (Exeter/Wyoming Area) has been extremely efficient through eight games this season, averaging 6.8 ppg and 4.0 rpg in just 16.5 mpg and has a 59.5 FG% (22-37). Per 40 minutes of action, Edmonds is averaging 16.5 ppg and 9.5 rpg.

Edmonds has started each of the past three games, averaging 24.3 mpg, 6.7 ppg and 4.0 rpg. In the first start of his career against FDU, he posted career-highs with 12 points and 9 rebounds.

BACKCOURT RESERVES
So. G Cliff Richardson (Bernville, PA/Tulpehocken) started his first game of the year at Misericordia after averaging 14.3 mpg off the bench through the first four games. He 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.

Fellow So. G Tyler Breznitsky (Freeland, PA/MMI Prep) came off the bench against Leb Val to score a season-high 13 points on 6-7 shooting in 24 minutes. After starting 17 games last season, Breznitsky has played in seven games this year, averaging 5.0 ppg and has 10 assists.

THE FRESHMEN
The Colonels welcome in seven freshmen this season, including Gs Craig Thomas (Avenel, NJ/Cardinal McCarrick), Matt Hayes (Wharten, NJ/Morris Hills) and Mike Boylan (Dover, NJ/Morris Knolls), and Fs Pat Furst (Jamison, PA/Central Bucks West), Brendan Sheldon (Milford, PA/Delaware Valley), Allen Heggs (Woolwich, NJ/Episcopal Academy) and Aaron Wass (Gloucester, VA/Gloucester).

Sheldon has seen the most action, starting twice and averaging 12.4 mpg. He's scored 21 points and grabbed 26 rebounds so far this season, getting 4 points, 3 rebounds and 4 assists in his first career start against Gallaudet.

Thomas has played in seven games so far this season, adding to an already talented backcourt, while Wass, Boylan, Hayes and Heggs each have received playing time.

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
Totals      331-142

THE FRIENDLY CONFINES OF MARTS
The Colonels have been very successful playing at home under Rickrode, putting together a 192-50 (.793) record through this season. 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.