Steve Finkernagel

COLONEL CAGERS ROLL PAST MISERICORDIA IN FREEDOM OPENER BEHIND WILSON’S BIG NIGHT

11/30/2011 10:26:00 PM

Box Score

COLONEL CAGERS ROLL PAST MISERICORDIA IN FREEDOM OPENER BEHIND WILSON'S BIG NIGHT

WILKES-BARRE – Freshman Jourdon Wilson (Mechanicsburg, PA/Cumberland Valley) poured in a career-high 26 points on 12-for-16 shooting to lead host Wilkes University to a 78-50 victory over Misericordia University in both teams' Freedom Conference opener Wednesday night in the Marts Center.

Wilkes improves to 4-1 overall and 1-0 in league play. Misericordia falls to 5-1 overall and 0-1 in conference games.

The Colonels came out of the gates all hands on deck and never looked back jumping out to a 8-0 lead after two free throws from Kendall Hinze (Lewisberry, PA/Red Land). The lead swelled to 21-2 after an old-fashioned three-point play by Matt Mullins (Binghamton, NY/Chenango Valley) with 13:54 left in the opening half. Four minutes later a deep three-pointer from Paul Huch (Tuckerton, NJ/Pinelands Regional) put the Colonels up 30-8 with 9:22 left until the break leaving the Cougars only option to call timeout to stop the furious Wilkes' offensive onslaught.

Wilson took matter into his own hands following the stoppage scoring eight straight points including a nifty shot in the lane to give Wilkes a commanding 40-15 lead at the half. Wilson was nearly unstoppable off the dribble flying by Cougar defenders for easy scores. The rookie point-guard finished with 15 first half points going an efficient 7-for-10 from the field in 16 minutes.

The second half was much of the same as Wilkes controlled tempo and play throughout. The Colonel lead grew to 31 with 13:25 left in the game after Hinze scored again in the paint followed by a Wilson mid-range jumper. Another trey, this time from Mullins pushed the Wilkes advantage to 64-29 with just over ten minutes to play as both teams began to clear their benches.

Although the Wilkes offense was firing on all cylinders, the Colonel defense clearly was the difference in the contest holding Misericordia to a season-low 50 points. Wilkes limited Misericordia to just 31.9 percent (15-47) shooting from the floor and 33.3 percent (5-15) from behind the arc. The Cougars had trouble starting their offense throughout due to the Wilkes pressure defense that caused 19 Cougar miscues leading to 25 points. Wilkes also had their way inside the paint outscoring Misericordia 32-10.

Wilkes also had a decisive advantage on the glass outrebounding Misericordia 45-27 including 17 offensive rebounds.

Mullins and Huch joined Wilson in double figures finishing with 13 points and 10 points respectively. Cameron Hinkel (Millerstown, PA/Greenwood) added eight points and four rebounds, while Hinze contributed six points and a team-high nine boards. Brendan Sheldon (Milford, PA/Delaware Valley) had a solid effort off the Colonel bench finishing with eight points, five rebounds, and three helpers.

Wilkes shot a season-high 48.5 percent (33-68) and a blistering 41.2 percent (7-17) from beyond the arc.

Ethan Eichhorst was the lone Cougar in double figures finishing with 11 points and six rebounds.

Wilkes heads to the road Saturday with a Freedom matchup at DeSales University at 3:00 p.m. in Center Valley, Pa.

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