Complete Game Notes (PDF)

Wilkes (15-8, 8-5) at King's (14-10, 6-7)
Friday, February 19, 2011 / 3:00 p.m. 
McGrane Gymnasium / Wilkes-Barre, PA

LIVE STATS
KingsCollegeAthletics.com

LIVE AUDIO
ESPNWilliamsport.com

AT A GLANCE
After clinching a Freedom Conference tournament berth on Tuesday, the Colonels wrap up their regular season still fighting for a high-seed as they battle cross-town rival King's College on Saturday afternoon. Along with WU, DeSales, Misericordia and Delaware Valley will all be playing to win while scoreboard watching this coming weekend as each seed is up for grabs.

LAST TIME OUT
Four free throws in the last 23 seconds by Sr. G Chris DeRojas (Dallas/Bishop O'Reilly) sealed a second half comeback as the Colonels defeated DeSales on its home floor, 72-64.

Down 32-25 at the break, Jr. Matt Mullins (Binghamton, NY/Chenango Valley) rallied the Colonels with three straight treys in the first 1:15 as WU narrowed the gap to 36-34. Foul shots by Jr. F Paul Huch (Tuckerton, NJ/Pinelands Regional) a couple minutes later gave the Colonels their first lead since the 7:42 mark in the first half as the rest of the half consisted of a back-and-forth battle before the foul shots by DeRojas. Huch finished with 18 points and 10 boards, while DeRojas scored 15 points, Mullins 13 and Jr. C Kendall Hinze (Lewisberry, PA/Red Land) chipped in with 14 points and 8 boards.

FREEDOM CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT SCENARIOS
The Colonels, along with DeSales, Misericordia and Delaware Valley have clinched the four spots in the upcoming Freedom Conference tournament. But with all four teams still with one game to play, each of the four seeds are up for grabs heading into the weekend. There are 16 possible scenarios, as DeSales has the best chance at securing the No. 1 seed while Delaware Valley is the only other school with that chance.

Saturday's Games:
DeSales (9-4) at FDU-Florham (3-10)
Delaware Valley (8-5) at Eastern (5-8)
Wilkes (8-5) at King's (6-7)                   
Misericordia (8-5) at Manhattanville (5-8)

See back page of game notes for tiebreakers and possible scenarios.

THE CENTURY MARK
Already hitting the 1,000-point mark as a junior, Sr. G Chris DeRojas (Dallas/Bishop O'Reilly) currently stands 7th all-time at WU with 1,496 career points and enters Saturday just 8 points shy of tying Chris Parker (1993-96) for 6th place. He's gone for 20+ points nine times this season, including a season-high 29 against Misericordia and 28 the following game at Manhattanville. He's hit double-figures in scoring 20 times this season, including each of the past eight games.

DeRojas has a career average of 15.3 ppg with 28 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 17.6 ppg this year is 4th in the conference.

SHOOTING THE “3”
A pure shooter, DeRojas has hit 217-590 3FGs (36.8%) in his three-plus seasons, including 62 as a freshman. This year he has a 41.5 3FG% (51-123), 3rd in the conference and 27th in the nation His 2.2 3's per game is 4th in the Freedom.

FROM THE FOUL LINE
In addition to being lethal from the outside, DeRojas has also been successful from the charity stripe. He's hit 295-335 career free throws, an 88.1 percentage, including a career-best 94 as a sophomore. He's gone 81-88 (92.0%) from the line this season, tops in the Freedom and 3rd best in all of DIII, and recently ended a streak of 27 consecutive free throws made.

THE TRANSFER
In his first season in a Colonels uniform, Jr. G Matt Mullins (Binghamton, NY/Chenango Valley) has started every game and is 3rd on the team in scoring with 12.3 ppg. In the four games after winter break, Mullins scored 20.5 ppg and had a 56.6 FG% (30-53). He scored a season-high 29 points on 12-16 FGs against Marywood back in January and followed that up with 22 points on 8-14 FGs in the upset win over Manhattanville.

He's scored in double-figures 13 times this season, hitting 20 points on four occassions. He leads the team with 35 steals and has a 40.5 FG% (105-259).

ALL-AROUND THREAT
Jr. F Paul Huch (Tuckerton, NJ/Pinelands Regional) has contributed in many ways for WU so far this season, as he leads the Colonels with 8.3 rpg and is also 1st on the team and 2nd in the Freedom with 45 blocks. He's 3rd on the team with 25 steals and 56 assists and 4th with 10.1 ppg.

Huch nearly notched a triple-double against Penn, going for 12 points, 14 rebounds and 9 assists in just 27 minutes on the floor. He has five double-doubles on the season, including two in the past six games. Over that span he's averaging 10.3 ppg and 10.2 rpg, including a 16-point, 15-rebound performance at Manhattanville.

He has started all 23 games and is averaging 29.5 mpg and has a 42.1 FG% (90-214) and a 73.3 FT% (44-60).


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 for WU down low, as his 60.9 FG% (117-192) is 1st in the Freedom. Hinze has posted six double-doubles, including three in last seven games, and is averaging 13.2 ppg and 7.5 rpg, 4th in the conference.

Hinze has reached double-figures in scoring 17 times this year, including a career-high 32 points on 9-12 FGs and14-18 FTs in the heartbreaking loss to Del Val. He had a recent stretch of seven straight double-figure scoring games, averaging 14.0 ppg and 8.3 rpg. His 17 blocks are 6th in the Freedom Conference.

POST EFFICIENCY
So. C Bernard Edmonds (Exeter/Wyoming Area) has been extremely efficient in his 22 games played this season, averaging 5.9 ppg and 3.3 rpg in just 13.2 mpg off the bench, and has an incredible 67.1 FG% (53-79). He posted a career-high 22 points in just 23 minutes off the bench against Delaware Valley, converting 9-9 FGs and 4-4 FTs.

Edmonds has started five games for the Colonels, averaging 19.8 mpg, 6.0 ppg and 4.4 rpg in those contests. In the first start of his career against FDU, he posted then-career-highs with 12 points and 9 rebounds.

BACKCOURT RESERVES
So. G Tyler Breznitsky (Freeland, PA/MMI Prep) has given the Colonels quality scoring off the bench this season, reaching double-figures five times, including 10 points on 3-5 shooting against Misericordia. For the season Breznitsky is scoring 5.7 ppg with a 52.2 FG% (48-92) and a 41.9 3FG% (13-31) in 18.3 mpg.

Fellow So. G Cliff Richardson (Bernville, PA/Tulpehocken) has played in 20 games this season, and has proven to be the Colonels defensive stopper. In the 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 40 games played and 15 starts.

Sheldon has played in 22 games and is averaging 16.0 mpg, starting 11 of the last 12 games. He played his best game of the season against King's, getting season-highs with 10 points and 7 rebounds, going 5-8 from the floor in 28 minutes.

Thomas has played in 18 games and is averaging 5.2 mpg and 1.6 ppg, including 7.4 mpg and 4.4 ppg over a recent five-game stretch. 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 201-52 (.794) 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 10-3 at home, including the 74-68 upset of then-25th-ranked Manhattanville.