Box Score
THE BIG THREE DO IT AGAIN; STELLAR TEAM EFFORT AS WILKES OUTLASTS CENTRAL PENN 93-88
WILKES-BARRE – The Wilkes University men's basketball team won its second game in as many days by way of defeating Central Penn College 93-88 Saturday afternoon in their second game of the Monarch Classic at King's College Scandlon Gymnasium.
With the win Wilkes improves to 4-4 overall while Central Penn falls to 8-5.
In a fast-paced game, Wilkes got on the board early when Chris Shovlin (Kingston, PA/G.A.R.) hit his first three-pointer of the day just 15 seconds into the ballgame. A Bernard Edmonds (Exeter, PA/Wyoming Area) layup and Tyler Bresznitsky trey gave Wilkes an 8-5 lead as the Knights kept pace with baskets of their own.
From there, the Knights made a stretch of their own, eventually leading by 11, at 24-13. Brendan Sheldon (Milford, PA/Delaware Valley) found Shovlin for the easy two and brought the Colonels to within nine. Then, Sheldon snagged a tough rebound off his own miss to lay it up for two before Jeremy Hartman (Little Egg Harbor, NJ/Pinelands Regional) hit an open three off a dish from Sheldon.
After a Central Penn basket, Cliff Richardson (Bernville, PA/Tulpehocken) found the hoop as did Sheldon on consecutive possessions to make it a 28-28 game with eight to go in the opening half. Wilkes and the Knights traded baskets through the rest of the opening period, but grabbed a lead late after a Shovlin free throw and a pass from Shovlin to Hartman for an open layup gave Wilkes the 48-45 lead as the buzzer sounded.
A Devon Dorsey jumper started the second half, but back-to-back makes from Breznitsky and Edmonds pushed the lead back to five. After the Knights tied the score at 52, Breznitsky hit a tough three-pointer and Shovlin and Edmonds laced consecutive shots to give the Colonels a 59-54 lead. Dorsey made consecutive jumpers on the Knights next possessions and Breznitsky and Shovlin equaled Dorsey's efforts with buckets of their own. Freshmen Alec Wizar (Lebanon, PA/Annville Cleona) came off the bench and hit a crucial three-pointer from the far corner to give the Colonels a 66-58 edge.
A small stretch by the Knights was erased when Shovlin hit a trey and hit two of his own from the charity stripe. Tied at 82 with 3:23 to play, Breznitsky and Shovlin laced back-to-back jumpers to give the Colonels a small lead. A Connor Arnold three-pointer brought the Knights back to within one, but Shovlin converted on an important three-point play. Central Penn scored on another layup, but the Knights had to foul Breznitsky with only 23 seconds left in order to stop the clock and give them the chance for a comeback. Breznitsky laced both free tries at the charity stripe eliminating the chance of a Central Penn victory.
Shovlin, who was named the Monarch Classic most valuable player, led the way with a game-best 37 points and seven assists. Breznitsky, also named to the All-Tournament team, and Edmonds added 21 and 10 respectively. Hartman had a career-day adding eight points and nine boards, while Sheldon and Richardson contributed seven points each.
Lamar Drayton posted 20 points while Dorsey added 19 points and 13 boards to lead the frontcourt.
The Colonels return to action Tuesday when they host Berkeley College for a 7:00 matchup at the Marts Center.
