Steve Finkernagel

WILKES MEN’S BASKETBALL GAME NOTES VS. DELAWARE VALLEY

1/27/2012 9:00:00 AM

(Complete Game Notes)

WILKES MEN'S BASKETBALL GAME NOTES VS. DELAWARE VALLEY

Wilkes Colonels (13-4, 6-1) vs. Delaware Valley Aggies (3-15, 0-7)
Saturday, January 28, 2012 - 3:00 p.m.
Doylestown, Pa. / Aggies Gymnasium

Live Stats

Live Audio (ESPNWilliamsport.com/Play-By-Play: Trevor Turner)

AT A GLANCE
Wilkes is looking for the programs' 800th victory as they travel to Doylestown, Pa. to take on Delaware Valley in Freedom Conference action Saturday afternoon. In the first meeting of the year on Jan. 11, Wilkes posted an 84-59 victory in the Marts Center.

LAST TIME OUT
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.

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

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 16.0ppg and 4.2 rpg. The senior sharpshooter is connecting on 45.9 percent (89-194) from the field and 38.5 percent (37-96) from the charity stripe. Huch and Hinze have controlled the paint combining for 28.4 ppg and 14.6 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 62.2 percent (79-127) 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 15.1 ppg and 7.5 rpg (team-high). Huch has reached double figures in 13 of 16 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 16.0 ppg and 4.2 rpg through the Colonels hot stretch. Mullins has enjoyed several outstanding performances this year starting in a 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 39.6 percent (36-91) 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. For his play Mullins was named Freedom Conference Player of the Week.

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 11.3 ppg and 2.6 apg in 25.8 mpg reaching double figures in ten of 16 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 7.6 ppg, hitting on 43.4 percent (23-53) 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 8.9 mpg, while Richardson averages 3.4 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 2.5 ppg and 2.6 rpg in 12.2 mpg. Hartman has started eight times averaging 3.1 ppg in 13.5mpg 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 359-156 (.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. Wilkes is 7-1 at home this year with wins over PSU Hazleton, Baptist Bible, Misericordia University, PSU Wilkes-Barre, Delaware Valley, FDU-Florham, and Lebanon Valley.

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