Wilkes Men's Basketball Falls at King's
WILKES-BARRE, Pa. – The Wilkes University men's basketball team fell at cross-town rival King's College by an 81-53 final in Middle Atlantic Conference Freedom (MAC Freedom) play on Wednesday evening.
The Colonels fell to 3-2 in conference and 11-5 overall with the defeat.
King's jumped out to the early lead thanks to timely shooting and uncharacteristic mistakes on offense from Wilkes, sprinting to a 9-2 lead forcing Wilkes to call an early timeout. Following a missed three-pointer, the Colonels were able to hold the Monarchs for 29 seconds but a King's shooter was fouled as he attempted a last-second three-pointer, consequently converting all three free throws.
The deficit ballooned to 16-2 with just under five minutes played before Tommy Bowen (Hummelstown, PA/Lower Dauphin) was fouled driving the basket and converted both resulting free throws. Two more free throws and turnaround jumper in the paint from King's pushed the score to 20-4, forcing Wilkes to call a full timeout.
The Colonels got a much needed defensive stop out of the timeout and wasted no time breaking the run as Rob Pecorelli (Huntington, NY/Harborfields) found Jack Bova (Camillus, NY/West Genesee) on the wing for a fastbreak three-pointer. After another Monarch layup, Bova found himself wide open on the wing once again for a catch-and-shoot three-pointer as the score sat at 22-10 with 11:42 remaining in the first half.
Wilkes finished the half on a 17-12 run to cut the halftime score to 45-26.
Both teams matched baskets through the first five-plus minutes of the second half as the Monarchs held a 51-30 advantage with 14:52 showing on the clock following a King's thirty-second timeout.
The Monarchs finished the game outscoring the Colonels 30-23 over the final 13:45 to seal the win.
Pecorelli paced Wilkes with 15 points to go with eight rebounds and three steals. Mark Mullins (Binghamton, NY/Chenango Valley) added 10 points and six rebounds.
Joe Lonardi came off the bench to finish with a game-high 18 points with nine rebounds for King's. Noah Tanner (16 points, 10 rebounds, nine assists), Andrew Hudak (11 points, nine rebounds, five assists), and Jake Pawliczak (10 points) all finished in double-figures for the Monarchs.
The Colonels return to action on Friday when they host FDU-Florham for a MAC Freedom contest starting at 8:00 p.m. inside the Marts Center.
