Wilkes University Athletics

THE OFFICIAL WEBSITE OF THE WILKES UNIVERSITY COLONELS

THE OFFICIAL WEBSITE OF THE WILKES UNIVERSITY COLONELS WILKES UNIVERSITY COLONELS

Steve Finkernagel

Kendall Hinze poured in a season-high 26 points in the Colonels win at Eastern Saturday

HINZE’S SEASON-HIGH 26 POINTS LEAD WILKES CAGERS PAST EASTERN, 68-64

2/11/2012 5:30:00 PM

Box Score

HINZE'S SEASON-HIGH 26 POINTS LEAD WILKES CAGERS PAST EASTERN, 68-64

ST. DAVIDS, PA – Senior center Kendall Hinze (Lewisberry, PA/Red Land) scored a season-high 26 points and added 10 rebounds to lead visiting Wilkes University to a 68-64 win at Eastern University Saturday afternoon in Freedom play.

With the win Wilkes improves to 15-7 overall and 8-4 in league play claiming sole possession of second place with two games remaining on the conference slate. Eastern drops to 14-9 overall and 7-5 in Freedom contests.

Wilkes controlled tempo early leading 27-18 with 3:34 left in the half following a Hinze score in the paint. The Colonels added to the advantage to close out the half as two Jourdon Wilson (Mechanicsburg, PA/Cumberland Valley) free tosses and another Hinze bucket inside gave Wilkes a 30-18 lead at the half.

Wilkes continued to hit on all cylinders to start the second half as Wilson canned a mid-range jumper and Matt Mullins (Binghamton, NY/Chenango Valley) dialed one home from long range extending the lead to 32-19 with 17:46 left. Eastern answered with a run of their own, 12-4, to close to within four 37-33 just six minutes later.

A quick 10-2 run late in the game put the Colonels in front 62-50 as Hinze scored eight of his season-high 26 points during the spurt. Eastern answered the Colonel run with one of their own tying the game at 64 with :48 ticks on the clock. Following a Wilkes miscue, the Colonels defense came up with a big stop leading to a Todd Eagles (Downingtown, PA/Downingtown East) layup off a Wilson miss to give Wilkes a 66-64 lead with just three second left. An Eastern turnover on the inbounds play followed by a foul sealed the important Freedom win for Wilkes.

Hinze enjoyed his best outing of the season shooting 9-for-10 from the field and 8-for-9 from the foul line. Wilson joined Hinze in double figures finishing with 16 points on 6-for-14 shooting. The Colonels shot a blistering 53.5 percent (23-43) from the field while connecting on four three-pointers.

The Colonel defense may have been the key in the win holding Eastern to just 32.4 percent (22-68) shooting and a dismal 15.4 percent (2-13) from long range.

Alex Nelson led the Eagles offense with 23 points and 10 rebounds, while Collin Whipple followed with 20 points and three assists.

Wilkes will continue its playoff push Tuesday when the Colonels welcome DeSales University to the Marts Center. Game time is set for 8:00 p.m.

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