WILKES-BARRE – The Wilkes University men's basketball team opened its season with an 85-54 victory over Penn State Wilkes-Barre at the Marts Center on Tuesday evening, using a 54-point second half in which the team shot 58 percent (7-12) from behind the three-point line to open up the game.

The Colonels improved to 1-0 with the victory.

Both teams missed their opening scoring attempts with Marcus Robinson (Swedesboro, N.J./Kingsway Regional) breaking the seal with his first three-point basket of the season at the 18:00 mark. Tommy Bowen (Hummelstown, Pa./Lower Dauphin) followed with a layup on an assist from Robinson to expand the lead to five before Penn State used two three-pointers and a layup to take an 8-5 lead, which would be its largest of the contest at 16:14 and again following a jumper at 15:34.

Wilkes went on a 14-1 run over the next seven-plus minutes to take a 21-11 lead with 8:05 left in the first half. The Colonels matched the Mountain Lions for the rest of the half, taking a 31-22 lead into the break.

Robinson opened the second half the way he opened the first by nailing a three-pointer, and from there Wilkes went on a 12-1 run to push its lead to 20 at 43-23 with 15:45 remaining, capped off by a layup from Zach Brunner (Mechanicsburg, PA/Mechanicsburg).

The Colonels hit seven three-pointers and shot 51 percent (17-33) from the field in the second half, reaching its highest lead at 35 when Johnny Bamford (Washington, NJ/Warren Hills) hit Brunner on the fastbreak for a layup to make the score 84-49 with 1:19 left in the game.

Robinson finished with a game-high 18 points on 7-13 shooting including hitting four three-pointers with three assists and three steals. Connor Evans (Cicero, N.Y./Cicero-North Syracuse) added 15 points in 23 minutes and Brunner added 12 points and five rebounds. Mark Mullins (Binghamton, NY/Chenango Valley) finished his first career game one point shy of a double-double, contributing nine points and a game-high 10 rebounds in 12 efficient minutes off the bench.

The Mountain Lions were led by Colton Lewis, who finished with 10 points and six rebounds in addition to two assists. Chris Cantine added seven points and seven rebounds while Keandre Augustine contributed seven points and three steals.

Wilkes shot 43 percent (28-65) from the field and 44 percent (11-25) from behind the arc while holding Penn State to 31 percent (16-51) from the field and 32 percent (6-19) from three-point range. The Colonels won the battle on the glass 45-32 and assisted on 15 baskets compared to eight for the Mountain Lions. Wilkes also got 32 points in the point while holding Penn State to half that total with 16.

The Colonels return to action this weekend when they travel to Muhlenberg for the Scotty Wood Tournament, where Wilkes will face Keystone on Friday at 3 p.m.