Steve Finkernagel

WILKES MEN’S BASKETBALL GAME NOTES VS. FDU-FLORHAM

1/20/2012 9:43:00 AM

(Complete Game Notes)

WILKES MEN'S BASKETBALL GAME NOTES VS. FDU-FLORHAM

Wilkes Colonels (12-3, 5-0) vs. FDU-Florham Devils (8-8, 3-2)
Saturday, January 21, 2012 - 3:00 P.M.
Wilkes-Barre, PA / Marts Center

Live Stats

Live Audio (ESPN Williamsport/Play-By-Play: Trevor Turner)

AT A GLANCE
Wilkes looks to make it seven straight wins when the Colonels face FDU-Florham at 3:00 p.m. in the Marts Center. Wilkes remains perfect in Freedom play with a 66-56 road victory at cross-town rival King's College Wednesday. The teams split the season series last year with each squad winning on their home court.

LAST TIME OUT
Matt Mullins (Binghamton, NY/Chenango Valley) poured in a career-high 30 points including nine three-pointers as visiting Wilkes University posted an important 66-56 Freedom Conference victory at cross-town rival King's College Wednesday night at Scandlon Gymnasium.

Wilkes opened with a Kendall Hinze (Lewisberry, PA/Red Land) scored down low followed by two Mullins three-pointers as the Colonels held an 8-0 lead with 16:52 left in the first half. Another triple, this time from Tyler Breznitsky (Freeland, PA/MMI Prep) pushed the Colonel lead to 13-4 just three minutes later. The three-pointers continued to fall as Mullins connected on his third trey of the half giving Wilkes their largest lead of the frame at 19-7. After a quick 6-0 King's run, Mullins rang true another deep three from the left corner to keep Wilkes ahead 24-16 with 4:52 on the clock. After a defensive stop by Wilkes on the ensuing possession, Paul Huch (Tuckerton, NJ/Pinelands Regional) drove the baseline for a layup forcing a King's timeout. A Hinze put-back off a Jourdon Wilson (Mechanicsburg, PA/Cumberland Valley) miss to close out the half gave the Colonels a 32-25 lead at the break.

King's responded in the first six minutes of the second half managing to tie the game at 35 following a Nick Reisig three-pointer with 13:12 remaining. Mullins fifth three-pointer gave Wilkes the lead back 38-37 with 11:12 on the clock, but King's would answer with a trey from the corner to take back the advantage 40-38. From there, Mullins hit his sixth trey as Wilkes led 41-40 with 9:45 left. The threes continued to fall for the Colonels as Breznitsky hit his second of the contest upping the advantage to 44-41 thirty second later. Two buckets inside followed by Mullins' seventh three-pointer forced another King's timeout as the
Colonels took their largest lead of the second half, 54-46, with 6:12 left to play.

Mullins wouldn't be done there as the senior sharpshooter hit his career-high eighth three-pointer from the top of the key extending the lead to 57-49 with 5:01 left. Mullins continued his shooting show connecting on his ninth trey of the night sealing the Colonels sixth straight victory in the process. The ninth three-pointer stands one shy of the school's single game record of 10 by Chad Fabian in 1999.

Mullins enjoyed one of the finest shooting nights in the program's storied history finising with a career-high 30 points on 10-of-18 shooting from the floor including a 9-for-16 performance from behind the arc. Breznitsky followed with 11 tallies including three treys while Hinze added eight points and 10 rebounds. Huch contributed seven points, 11 rebounds, and four blocks.

As a team, Wilkes connected on a season-high 14 three-pointers going 14-of-31 from long range. The Colonels also held a 43-27 advantage on the boards.

THE CAPTAINS
The trio of captains for the Colonels this season are Mullins, Huch and Hinze. The top three returning scorers for Wilkes, Mullins, Huch, and Hinze are the senior leaders of this year's squad.

Mullins leads the backcourt attack averaging 15.7 ppg and 4.3 rpg. The senior sharpshooter is connecting on 44.7 percent (76-170) from the field and 38.8 percent (33-85) from the charity stripe. Huch and Hinze have controlled the paint combining for 29.5 ppg and 15.0 rpg.

MAN IN THE MIDDLE
Hinze enters his second year as a full-time starter in 2011-12 and has anchored a Colonels frontcourt loaded with experience and depth at all positions. Hinze topped the conference in field goal percentage (61.4 %) last season, and continues to be the premier big man in Freedom play this season shooting over 62.5 percent (75-120) from the field (1st in Freedom).

His best game in a Wilkes uniform this season came in the Colonels victory at Manhattanville. He poured in a season-high 24 points on 7-for-7 shooting from the field and 10-for-12 from the foul line. Hinze also netted 22 points in a win at Penn College going 12-for-14 from the charity stripe. He also flexed his muscle on the glass finishing with 12 rebounds and one block for his third double-double of the year. Hinze finished with 18 points and eight boards in the win over Del Val.

HUCH INSIDE AND OUT
At 6-5, Huch is a matchup nightmare for opposing defenses every night as the senior guard-forward can play on the perimeter as well as with his back to the basket. He provides productivity in three different categories for Wilkes scoring points, grabbing rebounds, and blocking shots. He continues to fill the stat sheet averaging 15.2 ppg and 7.7 rpg (team-high). Huch has reached double figures in 13 of 15 contests this season recording two double-doubles. Huch went for a career-high 29 points in the Colonels win at Marywood shooting 13-for-16 from the field.

MULLINS FOR MAYOR
Mullins averages 15.7 ppg and 4.3 rpg through the Colonels hot start. Mullins had a career performance in the loss against Dickinson pouring in 26 points on 5-for-12 shooting from the floor while grabbing four rebounds in 37 minutes of action. He also found a way to get to the free throw line all night finishing 14-for-16 from the stripe. He followed that performance with a 19-point effort in the win over BBC and a 23-point outpour at Marywood making 7-of-10 from behind the arc including his first four. Mullins is shooting 84.7 percent (50-59) from three-point range including a career-high nine three-pointers at King's (9-for-16). Mullins went for a career-high 30 points on 10-for-18 shooting while grabbing eight rebounds and dishing out two assists in the win over King's.

ROOKIE TAKEOVER
Wilson, who earned Freedom Player of the Week in early December, had a career night in the Colonels blowout win over Misericordia to start the conference campaign. The rookie point guard finished with 26 points on an efficient 12-for-16 shooting from the floor while hitting both of his three-point attempts. For the season, Wilson is averaging 11.1 ppg and 2.7 apg in 25.9 mpg reaching double figures in ten of 14 contests.

BACKCOURT RESERVES
Tyler Breznitsky (Freeland, PA/MMI Prep) saw his minutes increase as last season went on, providing a spark off the bench. He continues to provide a spark off the pine this year averaging 7.9 ppg, hitting on 45.7 percent (21-46) of his three-point attempts. Breznitsky went for a season-high 18 tallies against PSU Wilkes-Barre on a perfect 5-for-5 shooting from behind the arc. Fellow guards junior Cliff Richardson (Bernville, PA/Tulpehocken) and sophomore Craig Thomas (Avenel, NJ/Cardinal McCarrick) continue to add depth to the Wilkes backcourt as Thomas averages 1.4 ppg in 9.4 mpg, while Richardson averages 3.7 mpg.

THE FRESHMEN
The Colonels feature six true freshmen this season, including Wilson, Cameron Hinkel (Millerstown, PA/Greenwood), Trevor Gilliam (Powhatan, VA/Blessed Sacrament Huguenot), Mike Sharpe (Saylorsburg, PA/Pleasant Valley), Jeremy Hartman (Little Egg Harbor, NJ/Pinelands Regional), and Lee Strause (Port Carbon, PA/Pottsville Nativity). Hinkel has six starts under his belt averaging 2.9 ppg and 2.9 rpg in 13.7 mpg. Hartman has started six times averaging 3.2 ppg in 11.9 mpg hitting for a career-high 10 points in the win against Del Val.

THE HEAD MAN
Wilkes head coach Jerry Rickrode enters his 20th season at the helm, compiling a 358-155 (.697) career record. He has taken the Colonels to the conference playoffs 16 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.

THE FRIENDLY CONFINES OF MARTS
The Colonels have been very successful playing at home under Rickrode, putting together a 207-52 (.798) record. 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 is 6-0 at home this year with wins over PSU Hazleton, Baptist Bible, Misericordia University, PSU Wilkes-Barre, Delaware Valley and Lebanon Valley.

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