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WILKES MEN’S BASKETBALL STUMBLES AGAINST EASTERN 68-55 IN FIRST FREEDOM DEFEAT

1/25/2012 10:15:00 PM

Box Score

WILKES MEN'S BASKETBALL STUMBLES AGAINST EASTERN 68-55 IN FIRST FREEDOM DEFEAT

WILKES-BARRE – Visiting Eastern University used stingy defense and some timely shooting to hand Wilkes University their first Freedom Conference defeat of the season 68-55 Wednesday night in the Marts Center.

With the loss Wilkes falls to 13-4 overall and 6-1 in Freedom play. Eastern improves to 12-5 overall and 5-2 in conference contests and remain one game behind the Colonels.

Eastern jumped out to a 13-6 lead after five minutes of play following a Collin Whipple jumper. A 7-0 Wilkes run over the next three minutes tied the contest at 13-13 with 9:46 remaining in the half. Kendall Hinze (Lewisberry, PA/Red Land) scored down low followed by a layup from Paul Huch (Tuckerton, NJ/Pinelands Regional) and Matt Mullins (Binghamton, NY/Chenango Valley) buried a deep three-pointer to cap-off the Colonel surge. The Colonels took their first lead when Mullin drove the lane for two as Wilkes led 21-19 with 5:51 left in the frame. A trey from Tyler Breznitsky (Freeland, PA/MMI Prep) and another Mullins layup gave Wilkes a small cushion heading to the break up 26-25.

Eastern began the second half like they started the first using two Whipple jumpers and an Alex Nelson layup to take back the lead at 40-35 with 14:03 on the clock. The lead grew to 11 points at 54-43 with 6:15 remaining as the Eagles defense continued to cause Colonel miscues leading to transition scores. Wilkes battled back using a Jourdon Wilson (Mechanicsburg, PA/Cumberland Valley) drive and jumper to cut the deficit to seven, 59-52, with 2:45 left. Eastern connected on two free throws and a transition layup breaking the Wilkes full court press to hand the Colonels their first Freedom loss of the year.

Hinze led the Colonel attack finishing with 15 points and four rebounds battling through foul trouble all night. Mullins was the only other Colonel in double figures adding 13 points and five rebounds. As a team, Wilkes shot just 37.5 percent (21-56) from the field and 23.5 percent (4-17) from long range.

Three Eagles reached double figures in the win led by Whipple's game-high 19 points and five rebounds. Nelson followed with 14 points and a game-high nine boards, while Michael Donatoni chipped in 14 points.

The Eastern defense held the Colonel offense in check throughout limiting Wilkes to a season-low 55 points. Wilkes entered the contest averaging a conference-best 77.1 points per-game.

Wilkes will look to rebound from the loss Saturday with a Freedom road test at Delaware Valley College at 3:00 p.m. in Doylestown, Pa. The Colonels posted an 84-59 win over the Aggies in the Marts Center on January 11th in the teams' first meeting.

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