MADISON, N.J. –Rob Pecorelli (Huntington, NY/Harborfields) scored a career high 30 points on nine-of-12 shooting, including six-for-seven from three-point range to lead four Colonels in double-figures as the Wilkes University men's basketball team defeated Drew University by an 87-80 final on Wednesday evening.

The Colonels improved to 5-1 this season.

The Rangers began the game scoring the first four points before Pecorelli drilled his first three ball to open the scoring for Wilkes. The Colonels never led in the first half and trailed by as much as seven, entering the half down 39-36. Pecorelli kept the Colonels alive in the first half as he almost matched his career high in only 15 minutes, finishing the period with 21 points while shooting a perfect eight-of-eight from the floor including all five attempts from beyond the arc.

Wilkes took its first lead of the game after opening the second half on a 6-0 run, with all six points coming from Mason Gross (Pittston, PA/Pittston) who started his first game of the season.

The Colonels pulled away with a 10-0 run from the 8:18 mark until there was 5:43 remaining with Marcus Robinson (Swedesboro, NJ/Kingsway Regional) hitting two three-pointers during the streak. Wilkes' lead never sunk below five the rest of the way and reached as high as 11 twice as the Colonels emerged with a hard-fought victory.

Pecorelli led all scorers with his 30 points, adding three rebounds and three assists. Robinson finished with 16 points and six rebounds, and Gross added 11 points and seven rebounds. Zach Brunner (Mechanicsburg, PA/Mechanicsburg) contributed 13 points and 11 rebounds, his fourth career double-double and the first since he finished with 18 points and 12 rebounds against King's College (2/20/16) in a game that clinched the Colonels most recent trip to the Middle Atlantic Conference Freedom (MAC Freedom) tournament.

Yonathan Napoleon just missed matching Pecorelli, finishing with 29 points, three rebounds, and four assists for Drew. Riley Collins added 18 points and four assists while Nate Aldrich contributed 18 points and eight rebounds as those three players combined to take 45 of the Rangers 65 attempts from the floor.

Wilkes shot 50 percent from the floor (29-of-58) aided by 56 percent (15-of-27) in the second half.

The Colonels return to action on Saturday when they host Messiah College at the Marts Center with tip-off scheduled for 3:00 p.m.