Wilkes Men's Basketball Falls to No. 25 Scranton
WILKES-BARRE – The Wilkes University men's basketball team opened the 2018 Cross County Challenge with a 74-64 loss to the University of Scranton, the No. 25-ranked team in the country, at King's College on Saturday afternoon.
The Colonels fell to 8-2 on the season with the defeat.
Scranton started the game on a 4-0 run with Wilkes missing on its first four attempts from the field before Mark Mullins (Binghamton, NY/Chenango Valley) converted a layup at 17:10 to cut the deficit to 4-2.
The Colonels were able to match each Royal basket over the next six minutes until Marcus Robinson (Swedesboro, NJ/Kingsway Regional) gave Wilkes its first lead at 8-6 with a layup at the 12:41 mark.
Scranton retook the lead with a 17-4 run to grab a 23-12 advantage with just under four minutes remaining until halftime. The Colonels finished the half on a 13-8 run, entering the break down six points at 31-25.
The Royals began the second half with back-to-back three-pointers to extend their lead to 12 at 37-25. Robinson generated his own 5-0 run with two free-throws and a three-pointer to cut Scranton's lead to 37-30 with 17:27 remaining.
The Royals pushed their lead to 17 with a 12-2 run to take a 49-32 lead with 13:33 until the final buzzer.
Wilkes was able to cut the deficit as low as six over the remainder of the game, but the Colonels were unable to complete the comeback attempt.
Tommy Bowen (Hummelstown, PA/Lower Dauphin) led Wilkes with 17 points and nine rebounds. Robinson (15 points, seven rebounds, five assists, three steals) and Mullins (12 points, eight rebounds) both finished in double-figures for the Colonels.
Kyle DeVerna finished with a game-high 23 points to go with eight rebounds for Scranton. Jackson Danzig, Jack Brockett, and Jack Connelly all contributed 10 or more points for the Royals.
Wilkes returns to action on Sunday when it returns to King's for its final game of the 2018 Cross County Challenge against Marywood University, with tip-off scheduled for 1:00 p.m.
