Complete Game Notes (PDF)

Wilkes (5-5) vs. Marywood (5-2)
Wednesday, January 5, 2011 / 8:00 p.m.
Marts Center / Wilkes-Barre, PA

LIVE STATS
GoWilkesU.com

LIVE AUDIO
ESPNWilliamsport.com

AT A GLANCE
The Colonels return to the court, looking to extend their two-game winning streak from this past weekend's Wilkes-Barre Challenge as they host Marywood University on Wednesday night. WU has beaten the Pacers in three of the past four meetings, including an 86-75 comeback win in Scranton last season.

LAST TIME OUT
WU went 2-0 this past weekend in the Wilkes-Barre Challenge, defeating Albany Pharmacy 98-61 on Sunday night and Curry College 89-67 on Monday evening. For their efforts, Sr. G Chris DeRojas (Dallas/Bishop O'Reilly) and Jr. F Paul Huch (Tuckerton, NJ/Pinelands Regional) were named to the All-Challenge Team.

The Colonels got off to a fast start, taking a 23-1 lead 5:23 into the first half. They went on to build a 27-point lead at halftime before ultimately winning by 37 points. Jr. G Matt Mullins (Binghamton, NY/Chenango Valley) led all scorers with 22 points while DeRojas chipped in 18, hitting four 3s.

Against Curry, WU got out to another quick lead, going up 20-9 at the 14:29 mark of the first half before Curry battled back to cut its deficit to 2 at the break. In the second half, the Colonels got a boost from Jr. C Kendall Hinze (Lewisberry, PA/Red Land) and Huch, who combined for 23 points and 19 boards in the 20 minutes, to put away Curry for the 22-point win. Huch finished with 18 points and 17 rebounds while DeRojas had a team-high 25 points, adding 7 rebounds and 6 assists.

THE CENTURY MARK
Already hitting the 1,000-point mark as a junior, Sr. G Chris DeRojas (Dallas/Bishop O'Reilly) currently sits 72 points outside the WU top 10 with 1,255 career points. He totaled 43 this past weekend in the Wilkes-Barre Challenge, including 25 against Curry, and went for a season-high 26 points against Baptist Bible back in December.

SHOOTING THE “3”
A pure shooter, DeRojas has hit 192-523 3FGs (36.7%) in his three-plus seasons, including 62 as a freshman. This year he has a 46.4 3FG% (26-56), 4th in the Freedom Conference.

DeRojas has a career average of 14.8 ppg with 22 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 16.3 ppg this year is 7th 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 249-285 career free throws, an 87.4 percentage, including a career-best 94 as a sophomore. He's gone 35-38 (92.1%) from the line so far this season, 2nd best in the conference.

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 8.0 rpg and is also first with 18 blocks. Huch's 14 steals are 2nd, as is his 26 assists and his 10.1 ppg is 4th.

Huch came up huge against Curry in the Wilkes-Barre Challenge, posting his second double-double of the season with 17 points and a career-high 18 boards in the big WU win.

Over his last four games, Huch is averaging 13.0 ppg and 9.5 rpg along with 7 assists and 5 blocks as WU has gone 3-1. He's grabbed at least 5 boards in nine of 10 games this year and has reached double-figures in scoring five times.

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, posting two double-doubles and leading the Freedom with a 62.5 FG% (50-80). 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 seven times this year, including five of the past six games. Over that stretch, he's averaging 14.0 ppg and 6.8 rpg and has 6 blocks. His block total of 11 for the season ranks 3rd 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.

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 10 of the Colonels games this season and is 2nd on the team with 12.9 ppg. He's reached double-figures in scoring six times, including 22 points in just 18 minutes against Albany Pharmacy in the Wilkes-Barre Challenge.

Over the last three games, Mullins is scoring 15.3 ppg with 9 assists and 6 steals and has a 44.4 FG% (16-36).

He scored a season-high 24 points against Misericordia, hitting 8-19 FGs and going 6-7 from the line. 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 at Broome before coming to Wilkes.

POST EFFICIENCY
So. C Bernard Edmonds (Exeter/Wyoming Area) has been extremely efficient in his nine games played this season, averaging 6.9 ppg and 4.3 rpg in just 17.0 mpg and has a 62.5 FG% (25-40). Per 40 minutes of action, Edmonds is averaging 16.2 ppg and 10.1 rpg.

Edmonds has started four of the past five games for the Colonels, averaging 23.5 mpg, 7.0 ppg and 4.8 rpg over that span. He's also converting 64.7% of his FGs in those starts. 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) was fantastic off the bench during the Wilkes-Barre Challenge, averaging 10.5 ppg and shooting 66.7% from the floor in both WU wins. For the season Breznitsky is scoring 5.7 ppg with a 57.1 FG% (20-35) and a 46.2 3FG% (6-13) in 16.0 mpg off the bench.

Fellow So. G Cliff Richardson (Bernville, PA/Tulpehocken) has played in all 10 games this season, getting a start against Misericordia. He's averaging 1.3 ppg and 1.2 rpg with 10 assists and 5 steals

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 19 games played and 3 starts.

Sheldon has played in all 10 games and is averaging 12.6 mpg and got one of his three starts against Albany Pharmacy in the Wilkes-Barre Challenge. During the Challenge, he averaged 13.5 mpg with 5 rebounds and 3 blocks. He's averaging 2.3 ppg and 3.1 rpg for the season.

Thomas has played in nine games and is averaging 5.9 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 194-50 (.795) 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.