Complete Game Notes (PDF)

Wilkes (8-5, 2-2) vs. King's (8-5, 2-2)
Saturday, January 15, 2011 / 3:00 p.m. 
Marts Center / Wilkes-Barre, PA

LIVE STATS
GoWilkesU.com

LIVE AUDIO
ESPNWilliamsport.com

AT A GLANCE
The Colonels, winners of five straight and six of seven, return home to host cross-town rival King's College on Saturday at the Marts Center. This will be the first meeting of the season between the two, as WU will look to avenge last season's 77-56 home loss to the Monarchs. The Colonels are coming off a 12-point win at Eastern on Wednesday while King's gave Delaware Valley its first loss of the season in Wilkes-Barre.

LAST TIME OUT
Sr. G Chris DeRojas (Dallas/Bishop O'Reilly) went for 20 points, one of four Colonels to reach double-figures, as WU defeated Eastern 67-55 in St. David's on Wednesday night.

After seven lead changes and seven ties during the first half, the score was knotted at 31-apiece going into the locker room. The Colonels opened on a 9-2 run but Eastern responded with six straight points to cut its deficit to 40-39 with 15:02 remaining. After trading baskets for the next 12-plus minutes, WU got on top by six and converted its foul shots down the stretch on the way to its fifth straight win.

Jr. C Kendall Hinze (Lewisberry, PA/Red Land) scored 16 points and grabbed 6 boards while Jr. F Paul Huch (Tuckerton, NJ/Pinelands Regional) dropped in 12 points and added 8 rebounds. Jr. G Matt Mullins (Binghamton, NY/Chenango Valley) chipped in 15 points for the Colonels.

THE CENTURY MARK
Already hitting the 1,000-point mark as a junior, Sr. G Chris DeRojas (Dallas/Bishop O'Reilly) currently sits 12 points outside the WU top 10 with 1,315 career points. He went for 23 points against Marywood and totaled 43 in the Wilkes-Barre Challenge, including 25 against Curry. DeRojas scored a season-high 26 points against Baptist Bible back in December and is averaging 20.3 ppg over the last seven contests.

DeRojas has a career average of 14.9 ppg with 24 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 17.2 ppg this year is 4th in the conference.

SHOOTING THE “3”
A pure shooter, DeRojas has hit 199-541 3FGs (36.8%) in his three-plus seasons, including 62 as a freshman. This year he has a 44.6 3FG% (33-74), 2nd in the Freedom 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 262-300 career free throws, an 87.3 percentage, including a career-best 94 as a sophomore. He's gone 48-53 (90.6%) from the line so far this season, 2nd best in the conference.

BIG TIME BACKCOURT DUO
DeRojas and Jr. G Matt Mullins (Binghamton, NY/Chenango Valley) have both been on fire since coming back from the holiday break. In the five games in 2011, the two are combining for 40.0 ppg and a 50.4 FG% as the Colonels are a perfect 5-0.

DeRojas has gone 16-32 from 3 during the win streak, scoring 20.6 ppg and posting a 88.5 FT%. He dished out 17 assists and has a 1.5 assist-turnover ratio and is averaging 31.8 mpg.

Mullins has put together the best five-game stretch since coming to WU, averaging 19.4 ppg, including a season-high 29 against Marywood. He's shooting an incredible 54.5 pct from the floor, while averaging 4.0 rpg with 18 assists and 10 steals.

THE TRANSFER
After playing in eight games as a freshman at Division I Binghamton, Mullins moved onto Broome C.C. where he earned 1st team all-conference honors in averaging 17 ppg, 5 rpg and 5 apg last year.

Mullins has started all 13 games for the Colonels this year and is 2nd on the team with 15.0 ppg, hitting double-figures nine times and scoring 20 points four times, including three times in the last five games. He leads the team in steals with 21 and has a 44.2 FG% (73-165).

ALL-AROUND THREAT
Jr. F Paul Huch (Tuckerton, NJ/Pinelands Regional) has contributed a lot of ways for WU so far this season, as he leads the Colonels with 7.8 rpg and is also 1st on the team and 2nd in the Freedom with 24 blocks. He's t-2nd with 15 steals, 3rd with 30 assists and 4th on the team with 9.9 ppg.

Huch has a team-leading three double-doubles this year, getting them in the last six games. Over that span he's averaging 11.5 ppg and 9.7 rpg, including a 17-point, 18-rebound performance against Curry.

Starting in all 12 games, Huch is averging 28.2 mpg and has a 41.9 FG% (52-124).

MAN IN THE MIDDLE
Entering his first year as a full-time starter in 2010-11, Jr. C Kendall Hinze (Lewisberry, PA/Red Land) has been a force so far for WU down low, leading the team and ranking 2nd in the Freedom with a 62.7 FG% (64-102). Hinze has posted two double-doubles and is averaging 12.8 ppg and 7.0 rpg, 2nd best on the team.

Hinze has reached double-figures in scoring nine times this year, including seven of the past nine games. Over that stretch, he's averaging 13.6 ppg and 7.2 rpg and has 7 blocks. His 13 blocks are t-4th in the conference.

He had his best game of the season against Gallaudet in the Scotty Wood Tournament, posting career-highs in points (20), rebounds (12) and minutes (32), while adding 3 assists and 3 steals and converting 9-13 FGs.

POST EFFICIENCY
So. C Bernard Edmonds (Exeter/Wyoming Area) has been extremely efficient in his 121 games played this season, averaging 5.6 ppg and 3.7 rpg in just 14.9 mpg and has a 64.3 FG% (27-42). Playing in just four minutes against Manhattanville on Saturday, Edmonds posted 2 blocks, helping WU to the upset win.

Edmonds has started four games for the Colonels, averaging 23.5 mpg, 7.0 ppg and 4.8 rpg in those contests. In the first start of his career against FDU, he posted career-highs with 12 points and 9 rebounds.

BACKCOURT RESERVES
So. G Tyler Breznitsky (Freeland, PA/MMI Prep) has been fantastic off the bench in the past five games, averaging 6.4 ppg and shooting 55.0% from the floor in five WU wins. For the season Breznitsky is scoring 5.2 ppg with a 53.5 FG% (23-43) and a 47.1 3FG% (8-17) in 16.4 mpg off the bench.

Fellow So. G Cliff Richardson (Bernville, PA/Tulpehocken) has played in all 13 games this season, and has proven to be the Colonels defensive stopper. In Saturday's upset win over Manhattanville, Richardson came up with a huge rebound and putback that put WU up for good, followed by a key turnover on the other end of the court with 1:08 left in the game.

THE FRESHMEN
Among the Colonels seven freshmen this year, Fr. G Craig Thomas (Avenel, NJ/Cardinal McCarrick) and Fr. F Brendan Sheldon (Milford, PA/Delaware Valley) are receiving the most playing time, combining for 23 games played and 6 starts.

Sheldon has played in all 13 games and is averaging 13.8 mpg and has started four of the past five games. During the Challenge, he averaged 13.5 mpg with 5 rebounds and 3 blocks. He's averaging 2.4 ppg and 3.2 rpg for the season.

Thomas has played in 10 games and is averaging 5.6 mpg and 1.6 ppg. Against Albany Pharmacy, he put in a season-high 8 points on 3-5 FGs with 3 rebounds in 14 minutes.

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 196-50 (.797) 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. This season the Colonels are 5-1 at home, including the 74-68 upset of then-25th-ranked Manhattanville.