Steve Finkernagel

MEN’S BASKETBALL GAME NOTES VS. FDU-FLORHAM

2/7/2012 9:48:00 AM

(Complete Game Notes)

MEN'S BASKETBALL GAME NOTES VS. FDU-FLORHAM

Wilkes Colonels (14-6, 7-3) vs. FDU-Florham Devils (10-11, 5-5)
Wednesday, February 8th, 2012 - 8:00 p.m.
Madison, N.J. / Ferguson Recreation Center

Live Stats

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

AT A GLANCE
Wilkes travels to Madison, N.J. Wednesday for a Freedom Conference matchup with FDU-Florham. In the first meeting of the year on Jan. 21st, Wilkes posted an 81-69 victory in Wilkes-Barre, Pa.

LAST TIME OUT
Senior Kendall Hinze (Lewisberry, PA/Red Land) scored a game-high 18 points and hauled down eight rebounds to lead Wilkes University to a 64-58 Freedom victory over visiting Manhattanville College Saturday afternoon at the Marts Center.

Wilkes opened the contests scoring the first two buckets as Jeremy Hartman (Little Egg Harbor, NJ/Pinelands Regional) rang true from long range and Hinze scored in the post giving the Colonels an early 5-0 advantage just three minutes in. A trey from Tyler Breznitsky (Freeland, PA/MMI Prep) upped the lead to 11-4 with 11:20 on the clock. Manhattanville responded with a 13-0 run late in the first frame to take its first lead of the contest, 17-11 with 6:30 left in the half. Two Hinze free throws tied the score with just under two minutes left and Wilkes used a 10-2 spurt to end the first stanza capped by four straight free tosses to take a 27-23 lead to the break.

The Wilkes lead grew to as many as 10 early in the second half, 37-27, as Paul Huch (Tuckerton, NJ/Pinelands Regional) scored five consecutive points and Breznitsky drilled another three-pointer. Manhattanville cut the Colonel advantage to two, 40-38, with 10:56 left in the contest on a Jack Bramswig layup. A Matt Mullins (Binghamton, NY/Chenango Valley) trey, Brendan Sheldon (Milford, PA/Delaware Valley) jumper, and three-point play from Hinze gave the Colonels some breathing room up 53-46 with 4:56 left.

Up three with just under two minutes remaining, Wilkes went inside to their senior center and Hinze delivered with a score in the paint extending Wilkes' advantage to four. On the Colonels next possession, Wilson hit a huge jumper from the left wing with the shot clock winding down putting Wilkes up five with 1:10 on the clock.

Seven of eight Wilkes free throws down the stretch with Manhattanville having to foul gave the Colonels the important Freedom win.

Hinze was nearly unstoppable in the post throughout the afternoon of play finishing 4-for-9 from the floor and 10-for-13 from the free throw line. Five of his eight rebounds were on the offensive end leading to Wilkes' put backs. Huch followed with 14 points and a game-high 13 rebounds, his fifth double-double of
the season after starting the game slow. Breznitsky provided a nice spark off the bench adding 11 points including three triples.

Bramswig led Manhattanville with 14 points and seven rebounds, while Felipe Vargas followed with 13 points on 5-for-8 shooting. The Valiants leading scorer, Trevoy Pointer (17.1 ppg), was held to just 11 points.

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 15.2 ppg and 4.1 rpg. The senior sharpshooter is connecting on 43.3 percent (100-231) from the field and 81.1 percent (60-74) from the charity stripe. Huch and Hinze have controlled the paint combining for 28.7 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 61.8 percent (102-165) from the field (1st in Freedom).

His best game in a Wilkes uniform this season came in the Colonels victory at Manhattanville. He poured in a season-high 24 points on 7-for-7 shooting from the field and 10-for-12 from the foul line. 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 Saturday. He currently stands with 885 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 14.5 ppg and 8.0 rpg (team-high). Huch has reached double figures in 16 of 19 contests this season recording four double-doubles. Huch went for a career-high 29 points in the Colonels win at Marywood shooting 13-for-16 from the field.

MULLINS FOR MAYOR
Mullins averages 15.2 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 10.4 ppg and 2.2 apg in 25.5 mpg reaching double figures in ten of 20 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 7.9 ppg, hitting on 41.3 percent (26-63) 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 1.4 ppg in 8.1 mpg, while Richardson averages 3.3 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 2.3 ppg and 2.4 rpg in 11.9 mpg. Hartman has started 11 times averaging 3.6 ppg in 16.1 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 360-158 (.694) 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 207-52 (.798) 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 8-1 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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