Men's Basketball 1/20/2015 12:45:00 PM

Colonels Back Home Wednesday for Important Freedom Games Against DeSales

Colonels Back Home Wednesday for Important Freedom Games Against DeSales

WILKES-BARRE, PA – Looking to bounce back from Freedom Conference losses on Saturday the Wilkes University men's and women's basketball teams look to move to 3-2 in the league with victories over the visitors from DeSales University on Wednesday evening.

The women are set to tip at 6:00 p.m. followed by the men at 8:00 p.m. in the Marts Center.

Live Stats, live video and live audio will be available for both games at the following links.

Live Stats (women)

Live Stats (men)

Live Audio

Live Video

Delaware Valley benefited from some cold shooting on Saturday as they defeated the Colonels at home 68-54. The Wilkes men struggled shooting the ball over the final ten minutes of Saturday's game, missing 14 consecutive shots and letting a 50-49 lead slip away. It was the second consecutive loss for the Colonels in the Freedom Conference after they fell on the road at Misericordia (66-59) early last week. The team was held below 60 points on consecutive games and just the third time overall this season.

Wilkes is 4-1 at home and is averaging 72.4 points a contest. The Colonels (7-8, 2-2 Freedom) are shooting 42.9 percent from the floor and 34.5 percent from distance. The Colonels control the boards out-rebounding their opposition 37.0 to 31.9.

Steve Stravinski (Pittston, PA/Pittston) continues to lead the Colonels on offense with his 16 points per-game. He also carries the team on the glass pulling down 6.9 boards a game. Alec Wizar (Lebanon, PA/Annville Cleona) is averaging 15.1 points and 2.1 assists per-game. Wizar has made good on 40 three-pointers trailing only Stravinski's 50 made treys.

Zachary Brunner (Mechanicsburg, PA/Mechanicsburg) is putting together a fine rookie season as the forward is averaging 11.5 points and 6.4 boards a game while shooting a blazing 56.7 percent from the field. Tyler Jackson (Cresskill, NJ/Cresskill) is leading the league in assists with 4.0 per-game. Cameron Hinkel (Millerstown, PA/Greenwood) remains a stat machine averaging 7.4 points, 6.0 boards, 2.4 assists while leading the Colonels with 24 steals and 13 blocked shots.

DeSales University is 10-5 overall and 2-2 in the Freedom Conference after defeating FDU-Florham over the weekend. The Bulldogs are 2-3 on the road as they are averaging 70.3 points per-game. The Bulldogs defense is stingy holding opponents to 66.7 points on 39.1 percent shooting while leading the league in blocked shots with 56.

Cody Deal tops the squad offensively averaging 15.6 points per-game to go along with 5.7 boards. Aaron Burton is averaging 10.7 points and 6.3 boards while forward Travis Bryan is averaging 6.5 points and a team-best 8.9 rebounds per-game.

Last year DeSales pulled out two four-point wins over the Colonels winning at home 75-71 and 51-47 in the Marts Center.

The Lady Colonels stand at 7-6 overall and look to improve their Freedom Conference record to 3-2 against the Bulldogs. Wilkes has not beaten DeSales in 34 straight games and will be looking its first win against the Bulldogs since 1993. Last year the Lady Colonels fell on the road 66-45 and were defeated at home 71-53.

Wilkes carries some momentum into the game having beaten Moravian College 70-64 on Sunday. As a team Wilkes is averaging 65.8 points on offense and allowing 65.5 on defense.

Elena Stambone (Jessup, PA/Valley View) leads the team in scoring with 16.7 points per-game. Chelsea Brown (Garnet Valley, PA/Garnet Valley) is the leading rebounder for the Lady Colonels pulling down 8.4 caroms while also scoring 11.3 points a game. Cara Basile (Whitehall, PA/Whitehall) is averaging 9.4 points and 5.4 boards while shooting 42.6 percent from the field. Chelsea Smelas (Jim Thorpe, PA/Jim Thorpe) is on a hot stretch as she has posted 45 points in three games and has made 21-of-31 shot attempts. As a whole the Lady Colonels are shooting 38.4 percent from the field and 30.9 percent from three-point range.

DeSales women's team stands 9-6 overall and 3-1 in league games after losing by ten at home to No. 1 ranked FDU-Florham on Saturday. The Bulldogs 5-2 on the road this season and are averaging 64.3 points on offense and allowing 61.0 points on defense.

Morgan McCollian is the leading scorer for the Bulldogs averaging 16.9 points while also cleaning up on the glass corralling a team best 8.4 boards per-game. Megan Baird is averaging 9.9 points, 4.1 rebounds and 3.0 assists a game while making a team-high 30 three-pointers. The Bulldogs have been playing without their leading scorer Leandra Sterner who was averaging 17.3 points per-game before an injury.

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Players Mentioned

#11 Cara Basile: G; 5' 9"; Junior

#33 Chelsea Brown: G/F; 5' 10"; Senior

#15 Chelsea Smelas: G; 5' 7"; Sophomore

#10 Elena Stambone: G; 5' 8"; Senior

#15 Cameron Hinkel: G; 6' 2"; Senior

#3 Tyler Jackson: G; 5' 8"; Sophomore

#20 Steve Stravinski: G/F; 6' 3"; Junior

#11 Alec Wizar: G; 6' 0"; Junior

#33 Zach Brunner: F; 6' 4"; First Year

Players Mentioned

#11 Cara Basile
: 5' 9"; Junior
: G

#33 Chelsea Brown
: 5' 10"; Senior
: G/F

#15 Chelsea Smelas
: 5' 7"; Sophomore
: G

#10 Elena Stambone
: 5' 8"; Senior
: G

#15 Cameron Hinkel
: 6' 2"; Senior
: G

#3 Tyler Jackson
: 5' 8"; Sophomore
: G

#20 Steve Stravinski
: 6' 3"; Junior
: G/F

#11 Alec Wizar
: 6' 0"; Junior
: G

#33 Zach Brunner
: 6' 4"; First Year
: F