Complete Game Notes (PDF)

Wilkes (13-7, 6-4) vs. Eastern (11-9, 4-6)
Wednesday, February 9, 2011 / 8:00 p.m. 
Marts Center / Wilkes-Barre, PA

LIVE STATS
GoWilkesU.com

LIVE AUDIO
ESPNWilliamsport.com

AT A GLANCE
The Colonels aim to extend their winning streak to five games as they host Eastern University this Wednesday night. WU enters the stretch run of its Freedom Conference playoff push, currently in a three-way tie with Misericordia and Delaware Valley for 2nd place. The Eagles are losers of four straight and will look to get back at the Colonels for their 67-55 loss back in January.

LAST TIME OUT
The Colonels went into a hostile gym at Manhattanville and came away with a dominating 66-47 victory on Saturday afternoon, their fourth straight win.

It was a back-and-forth game in the early going but WU used a late first half 14-3 run to take a commanding 31-15 lead at the break. After letting the Valiants score the first four points of the second half to cut their deficit to 12, WU scored 10 straight points to go on top by 22.

Manhattanville chipped away at the lead and got it back to within 13 points, but the Colonels scored 9 of the final 12 points to take the win.

Sr. G Chris DeRojas (Dallas/Bishop O'Reilly) scored a game-high 28 points while Jr. F Paul Huch (Tuckerton, NJ/Pinelands Regional) posted a double-double with 16 points and 15 boards.

THE CENTURY MARK
Already hitting the 1,000-point mark as a junior, Sr. G Chris DeRojas (Dallas/Bishop O'Reilly) is now 7th all-time at WU with 1,458 career points. He's gone for 20+ points five times in the last eight games, including a season-high 29 against Misericordia and 28 the following game at Manhattanville. He's averaging 24.0 ppg over the last four games with a 48.4 FG% (32-66), a 42.9 3FG% (12-28) and a 90.9 FT% (20-21).

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 18.3 ppg this year is 3rd in the conference.

SHOOTING THE “3”
A pure shooter, DeRojas has hit 215-582 3FGs (36.9%) in his three-plus seasons, including 62 as a freshman. This year he has a 42.6 3FG% (49-115), 3rd in the conference and 27th in the nation His 2.5 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 289-328 career free throws, an 88.1 percentage, including a career-best 94 as a sophomore. He's gone 75-81 (93.0%) from the line this season, tops in the Freedom and 4th best in all of DIII, and recently ended a streak of 27 consecutive free throws made.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK
DeRojas was named Freedom Conference Player of the Week on Monday after averaging 28.5 ppg, 5.0 rpg and 3.0 spg in leading the Colonels to a 2-0 week. DeRojas scored a season-high 29 points against Misericordia and followed that up with 28 at Manhattanville on Saturday. DeRojas is the first conference player of the week for WU.

THE TRANSFER
In his first season in a Colonels uniform, Jr. G Matt Mullins (Binghamton, NY/Chenango Valley) has started every game and is 2nd on the team in scoring with 12.4 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 11 times this season, hitting 20 points on four occassions. He leads the team with 29 steals and has a 41.2 FG% (94-228).

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.

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 8.2 rpg and is also 1st on the team and 2nd in the Freedom with 36 blocks. He's 3rd on the team with 23 steals and 50 assists and 4th with 10.0 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 four games. Over that span he's averaging 11.5 ppg and 10.5 rpg, including a 16-point, 15-rebound performance at Manhattanville.

He has started all 20 games and is averaging 28.9 mpg and has a 42.2 FG% (79-187) and a 70.0 FT% (35-50).

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 60.1 FG% (95-158) is 1st in the Freedom. Hinze has posted five double-doubles, including two in last four games, and is averaging 12.3 ppg and 7.4 rpg, 5th in the conference.

Hinze has reached double-figures in scoring 14 times this year, including a recent streak of seven in a row. Over that stretch, he averaged 14.0 ppg and 8.3 rpg. His 16 blocks are 5th in the conference.

POST EFFICIENCY
So. C Bernard Edmonds (Exeter/Wyoming Area) has been extremely efficient in his 19 games played this season, averaging 5.8 ppg and 3.5 rpg in just 13.8 mpg off the bench, and has an incredible 64.8 FG% (46-71). 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 5.8 ppg with a 54.5 FG% (42-77) and a 40.7 3FG% (11-27) in 18.7 mpg.

Fellow So. G Cliff Richardson (Bernville, PA/Tulpehocken) has played in 18 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 34 games played and 12 starts.

Sheldon has played in 19 games and is averaging 15.6 mpg, starting eight of the last nine 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 15 games and is averaging 5.5 mpg and 1.7 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 200-51 (.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 9-2 at home, including the 74-68 upset of then-25th-ranked Manhattanville.