Three-Point Shooting Lifts Wilkes Men's Basketball over Misericordia 81-78
WILKES-BARRE – The Wilkes University men's basketball team won their Middle Atlantic Conference Freedom (MAC Freedom) opener over Misericordia on Wednesday night at the Marts Center.
With the win, Wilkes improves to 6-1 overall while Misericordia drops their conference opener to fall to 4-3.
Wilkes took an early lead in this one as Rob Pecorelli's (Huntington, NY/Harborfields) three-pointer gave the Colonels an 11-8 advantage at the 16:02 mark of the first half.
After a Misericordia triple pulled the Cougars to within one at 14-13, the Colonels went on an 11-2 run thanks to three three-pointers, the last one coming from Jack Bova (Camillus, NY/West Genesee), to give Wilkes a 25-15 lead at the 10:24 mark.
A Mark Mullins (Binghamton, NY/Chenango Valley) layup with 7:40 remaining until halftime stretched the Colonels advantage to 11, their largest lead of the first half, at 32-21.
The Cougars would cut the lead to five on a layup with three minutes left in the half before adding a layup and jumper on their final two possessions to cut the halftime deficit to one at 42-41 Wilkes.
Wilkes shot 47% (15-32) from the floor and 60% (9-15) from three in the first half thanks to Pecorelli's five triples.
A Connor Evans (Cicero, NY/Cicero-North Syracuse) layup would push the Colonels lead back to five just over two minutes into the second half. At the 15:38 mark, Pecorelli would drain a jumper to stretch the Wilkes lead to 52-44.
A pair of Colonel free throws would give the navy and gold another double-digit advantage, this time by 10 at 56-46 with 12:32 remaining.
After a Misericordia three cut the margin to six, Wilkes went on an 8-0 run, thanks to a pair of Marcus Robinson (Swedesboro, NJ/Kingsway Regional) three-pointers, to extend the lead to 66-52 at the 8:42 mark.
The Cougars trimmed the deficit to eight at 68-60 with another three-pointer but Mullins and Pecorelli would continue to find ways to score to keep the Colonels up by eight at 74-66 with 2:12 remaining in the contest.
A third Misericordia triple would shrink the lead to three at 80-77 with nine seconds left in the game but a Wilkes made free throw forced the Cougars to take a deep three that came up short, giving the Colonels an 81-78 MAC Freedom opening win.
Pecorelli was the game-high scorer with 29 points due in part to going 5-7 from beyond the arc.
Mullins had 18 points to go along with six rebounds while Robinson and Evans each scored 10.
The three-pointer was the difference in this one as the Colonels shot 50% (11-22) from three.
Wilkes hits the road on Saturday, December 8th when it heads to Manhattanville for a 3:00 p.m. tip.
