Wilkes University Athletics

THE OFFICIAL WEBSITE OF THE WILKES UNIVERSITY COLONELS

THE OFFICIAL WEBSITE OF THE WILKES UNIVERSITY COLONELS WILKES UNIVERSITY COLONELS

Steve Finkernagel

Pat Furst recorded a team-best 19 points in a 73-65 loss at Misericordia

COLONELS DROP FREEDOM OPENER AT MISERICORDIA 73-65

11/28/2012 11:01:00 PM

Box Score

COLONELS DROP FREEDOM OPENER AT MISERICORDIA 73-65

DALLAS, PA – The Wilkes University men's basketball team dropped their Freedom Conference opener at defending Freedom champion Misericordia University 73-65 Wednesday night at the Anderson Center.

With the loss, Wilkes falls even to 2-2 overall and 0-1 in Freedom play while the Cougars improve to 3-2 overall and 1-0 in the Freedom Conference.

After a Bernard Edmonds (Exeter, PA/Wyoming Area) layup in the opening minutes, the Cougars went on a 19-0 spurt and looked as if they were going to quickly put the game away. However, Pat Furst (Jamison, PA/Central Bucks West) had a different mentality and hit consecutive jumpers to get the Colonels back on the board after a six minute drought. Chris Shovlin (Kingston, PA/G.A.R.) went to work by spreading the wealth and dishing out assists to Edmonds, Furst, and Jourdon Wilson (Mechanicsburg, PA/Cumberland Valley) to give the Colonels some momentum down the stretch of the opening half.

Furst brought the game back to within nine, when he finished a layup on an assist from Lee Strause (Port Carbon, PA/Pottsville Nativity) at the 6:01 mark. The Cougars kept pace on finger rolls by Cael Evans and Matt Greene, but a Tyler Breznitsky (Freeland, PA/MMI Prep) jumper and three-pointers by Cliff Richardson (Bernville, PA/Tulpehocken) and Shovlin brought the game to 35-29 at the break.

In the second half, Furst kept the Colonels in the game by scoring seven straight points on a pair of threes and a free throw. Wilkes, who never possessed a lead after the opening layup, got to within three at the 15:46 mark when a Furst three-pointer made it a 40-37 game. The Cougars responded with a three-pointer of their own and two consecutive layups. Wilkes fought until the end, but Misericordia never lost their lead and seemed to capitalize when they needed it the most.

Down 66-59, Breznitsky and Nic Wilkins (Dushore, PA/Sullivan County) hit consecutive jumpers, but the Colonels were forced to foul and the Cougars made their free throws down the stretch.

Furst recorded a team-best and career-high 19 points to lead the Colonel scoring. Shovlin posted a double-double contributing 18 points and 10 boards, reaching double figures for the fourth straight contest. Richardson added eight tallies of his own to round out the top Colonel scorers.

Wilkes returns to action Saturday when they host DeSales University in a Freedom Conference matchup at 3:00 p.m. at the Marts Center.

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