Box Score

WILKES-BARRE – Matt Mullins (Binghamton, NY/Chenango Valley) had 17 points and Kendall Hinze (Lewisberry, PA/Red Land) had his sixth double-double of the season to help lift the Colonels past Eastern at the Marts Center on Wednesday night, 73-53. The win is the fifth in a row for Wilkes.

From the opening tip-off Wilkes had control of the contest, scoring the first four points of the game, and quickly taking a 10-4 advantage over the Eagles. Everyone seemed to be scoring for the Colonels, as field goals by Chris DeRojas (Dallas/Bishop O'Reilly), Hinze, and Bernard Edmonds (Exeter/Wyoming Area) helped to push the Wilkes lead to 11 points with seven minutes left in the period.

Mullins hit a three-pointer and followed it up with a tough lay-up to push the lead to 15 points soon after. Down the stretch the Eagles found it difficult to get off a clean shot, and a late jumper gave them 20 points before the halftime buzzer rang.

Wilkes out-scored Eastern 36-20 in the period, and was led by DeRojas with 10 points, while Hinze had six points and eight rebounds in just 13 minutes of play. Mullins chipped in seven points and Edmonds had six points in just seven minutes. Wilkes held the Eagles to just 25 percent shooting from the floor.

In the second half Wilkes picked up right where it left off, as the Colonels leaned on Edmonds to score repeatedly to push the lead to 20. After a lay-up by Paul Huch (Tuckerton, NJ/Pinelands Regional) and multiple scores from Mullins, Tyler Breznitsky (Freeland, PA/MMI Prep) hit Hinze on an alley-oop which Hinze slammed down to give Wilkes a 25 point lead and force an Eagle timeout. Soon after, Huch found Hinze under the basket for another slam, giving the Colonels all the momentum and a massive lead.

The rest of the game belonged to Wilkes with the help of Steve Blish (Monroe Township, NJ/Monroe Township) who came off the bench to hit two three-pointers. With time running down, the Colonels doused any possible comeback by the Eagles, cruising to a 73-53 victory.

Mullins finished with 17 points on the evening, while Hinze had 12 points and 13 rebounds in just 22 minutes of play. Edmonds and DeRojas each finished with 10 points, while Huch had six points and 10 rebounds. The most impressive aspect of the game for the Colonels was their defense, holding the Eagles to just 53 points and 30.9 percent shooting from the floor. No Eastern player had more than eight points.

With the win Wilkes moves to 14-7, 7-4 on the season, and pushes its winning streak to five games.

The Colonels will try to continue their run to a championship when they host Delaware Valley on Saturday, Feb. 12. That game will begin at 3:00 p.m.