Steve Finkernagel

Jourdon Wilson scored nine points and added five assists against DeSales Tuesday night

LATE FREE THROWS DOOM COLONELS IN 61-59 LOSS AGAINST DESALES

2/14/2012 10:31:00 PM

Box Score

LATE FREE THROWS DOOM COLONELS IN 61-59 LOSS AGAINST DESALES

WILKES-BARRE – Senior Paul Huch (Tuckerton, NJ/Pinelands Regional) poured in a game-high 26 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, but a late foul and subsequent free throws gave visiting DeSales University a 61-59 win over Wilkes University Tuesday night in Freedom Conference action at the Marts Center.

With the loss Wilkes falls to 15-8 overall and 8-5 in league play. DeSales improves to 14-10 overall and 8-5 in conference games. Both teams sit tied in second place (8-5) with one game remaining. Wilkes hosts King's while DeSales travels to Eastern to conclude Freedom play on Saturday. A Wilkes win Saturday would guarantee the second seed for the Colonels and a home playoff game next Wednesday in the conference semifinals.

Wilkes held a slight lead to open the second half as Paul Huch (Tuckerton, NJ/Pinelands Regional) continued his hot shooting after canning six three-pointers in the first frame. Huch's driving layup put the Colonels up 33-30 with 17:50 on the clock. DeSales would answer using back-to-back buckets to take its first lead of the contest 34-33 with 16:45 left to play. The teams traded baskets throughout the next six minutes of play before the Bulldogs rallied off six straight points to take a 49-43 lead with 9:44 remaining.

The DeSales lead grew to 10 points, 59-49, with 6:10 left setting up a furious Wilkes comeback rally in the final five minutes. A Kendall Hinze (Lewisberry, PA/Red Land) inside score followed by two Matt Mullins (Binghamton, NY/Chenango Valley) free tosses and a Jourdon Wilson (Mechanicsburg, PA/Cumberland Valley) transition layup cut the deficit to four, 59-55 with 3:32 on the clock. Two more Mullins free throws and a Hinze layup completed the comeback tying the game at 59 with 1:30 left.

From there each team had chances to take the lead, but a Bulldog missed jumper followed by a Jeremy Hartman (Little Egg Harbor, NJ/Pinelands Regional) miss three-point attempt setup the final DeSales possession. With :13 seconds remaining, DeSales Mike Coleman drove the left side with Mullins defending. A foul was whistled on the senior guard sending Coleman to the line with under a second left. Coleman sank both free throws and DeSales escaped with the Freedom victory.

The loss overshadowed a brilliant shooting performance from Huch who finished 10-for-16 from the field including a 6-for-8 display from behind the arc. Hinze joined Huch in double figures with 10 points and five boards, while Wilson added nine points and five helpers.

Brett Moyer led four Bulldogs in double figures finishing with 17 points and eight rebounds. Coleman added 13 tallies off the bench, while Kyle Hash contributed 12 points and five rebounds.

The Colonels conclude their regular season slate Saturday with a matchup against cross-town rival King's College on Senior Day at the Marts Center. Game time is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. Wilkes will honor its four seniors, Matt Mullins (Binghamton, NY/Chenango Valley), Kendall Hinze (Lewisberry, PA/Red Land), Paul Huch (Tuckerton, NJ/Pinelands Regional), and Todd Eagles (Downingtown, PA/Downingtown East) prior to the contest.

Print Friendly Version