Steve Finkernagel

Matt Mullins is one of four seniors who will be honored Saturday prior to the contest against King's

WILKES MEN’S BASKETBALL GAME NOTES VS. KING’S

2/17/2012 3:20:00 PM

(Complete Game Notes)

WILKES MEN'S BASKETBALL GAME NOTES VS. KING'S

Wilkes Colonels (15-8, 8-5) vs. King's Monarchs (9-15, 4-9)
Saturday, February 18th, 2012 - 3:00 p.m.
Wilkes-Barre, Pa. / Marts Center

Live Stats

Live Audio: (Play-By-Play: Trevor Turner)

AT A GLANCE
Wilkes closes out its regular season slate Saturday with a key Freedom Conference matchup with playoff seeding implications against cross-town rival King's. In the first meeting of the year on Jan. 18th, Wilkes posted a 66-56 victory at King's. A Wilkes win Saturday would guarantee the second seed for the Colonels and a home playoff game next Wednesday in the conference semifinals.

LAST TIME OUT
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.

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.

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 14.1 ppg and 4.1 rpg. The senior sharpshooter is connecting on 42.5 percent (105-247) from the field and 80.0 percent (68-85) from the charity stripe. Huch and Hinze have controlled the paint combining for 29.5 ppg and 14.9 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 64.0 percent (119-186) from the field (1st in Freedom).

His best game in a Wilkes uniform this season came in the Colonels victory at Eastern last Saturday. Hinze went for 26 points and 10 rebounds, his fourth double-double of the year. He also poured in 24 points on 7-for-7 shooting from the field and 10-for-12 from the foul line in a win at Manhattanville earlier this season.

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 on Jan. 11 as well as dropping 18 points in the Colonels win over Manhattanville two weeks ago. He currently stands with 944 career points.

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 14.6 ppg and 8.0 rpg (team-high). Huch has reached double figures in 17 of 23 contests this season recording six double-doubles. Huch went for a career-high 29 points in the Colonels win at Marywood shooting 13-for-16 from the field. In the most recent game against DeSales Paul posted a double-double (26 points and 10 rebounds).

MULLINS FOR MAYOR
Mullins averages 14.1 ppg and 4.1 rpg leading the Colonels backcourt. 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 37.4 percent (43-115) 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 10.6 ppg and 2.6 apg in 26.3 mpg reaching double figures in 13 of 23 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 7.0 ppg, hitting on 39.1 percent (27-69) 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 1.3 ppg in 7.9 mpg, while Richardson averages 6.8 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 2.2 ppg and 2.5 rpg in 11.8 mpg. Hartman has started 12 times averaging 3.2 ppg in 14.9 mpg hitting for a career-high 11 points at Del Val.

THE HEAD MAN
Wilkes head coach Jerry Rickrode enters his 20th season at the helm, compiling a 361-160 (.693) 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 209-53 (.797) 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 8-2 at home this year with wins over PSU Hazleton, Baptist Bible, Misericordia University, PSU Wilkes-Barre, Delaware Valley, FDU-Florham, Manhattanville, and Lebanon Valley.

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