Wilkes Basketball Travels to Eastern on Saturday
WILKES-BARRE – The Wilkes University men's and women's basketball teams will hit the road as they travel to St. Davids, Pa. to take on the Eastern University Eagles on Saturday afternoon for a Middle Atlantic Conference Freedom (MAC Freedom) doubleheader.
The women tip-off at 1:00 p.m. with the men's game to follow at 3:00 p.m. Live links are provided below for fans who are unable to attend the contests.
Live Stats – (women)
Live Stats – (men)
Live Video
The women's team comes in winners of three of their last four conference games to improve to 3-4 in the MAC Freedom and 7-10 overall. The Colonels outlasted the Eagles two weeks ago (1/12), 82-75, in overtime at the Marts Center.
Wilkes' balanced attack is led by Gab Giordano (Moscow, PA/Holy Cross) who averages 11.3 points per game (ppg) and is tied for second in the conference with 9.8 rebounds. The senior will also share the ball as she ranks sixth in the MAC Freedom with 3.3 assists. The other double-digit scorer for the Colonels is sophomore Maddie Kelley (Dallas, PA/Dallas) (10.6 ppg) who is 11th in the conference in field goal percentage (43.7%). Senior Ashley Caster (York, PA/Spring Grove) adds 9.5 ppg and 4.7 boards while ranking third in the MAC Freedom in field goal percentage (49.6%).
Wilkes is averaging 67.7 ppg while allowing 73.8 ppg.
Eastern is still in search of their first conference win of the season as they sit at 0-7 in the MAC Freedom and 5-13 overall after dropping Wednesday's contest to #18 DeSales 73-44.
The Eagles have three players inside the top 25 in conference scoring with the offense running through Regie Robinson who averages 16.6 ppg (T-3rd). The senior averages a double-double for the maroon and white with 10.4 boards (first) while adding 1.9 steals (T-10th) and 1.3 blocks (fourth). Their other double-digit scorer is freshman Jaelyn Harris who's 10.1 ppg (21st) comes mainly from her 2.1 triples per game (second) as she makes 33.6% of shots from beyond the arc (fourth). In the post, sophomore Viki Kneis adds 8.9 ppg (25th) and 6.2 rebounds (16th) while making 46.5% of her shots from the floor.
Eastern puts up 65.9 ppg while surrendering the second most in the MAC Freedom (70.9 ppg).
The men enter this matchup 12-6 overall and 4-3 in the MAC Freedom after dropping a high-scoring affair to Delaware Valley, 99-90, on Wednesday night. The Colonels defeated the Eagles two weeks ago (1/12), 94-74, after the game was tied at halftime.
The Wilkes attack is led by the quartet of Rob Pecorelli (Huntington, NY/Harborfields), Mark Mullins (Binghamton, NY/Chenango Valley), Marcus Robinson (Swedesboro, NJ/Kingsway Regional) and Tommy Bowen (Hummelstown, PA/Lower Dauphin), all of whom rank inside the conference's top 10 in scoring.
Pecorelli leads the Colonels with 17.4 ppg (fourth) while adding 5.7 boards and 2.6 dimes. Mullins' is sixth in the MAC Freedom at 15.9 ppg to go along with 7.1 rebounds (sixth) on 53.3% shooting from the floor (fifth) and 84.0% from the charity stripe (third). Robinson closely trails Mullins with 15.4 ppg (seventh). The senior contributes in all facets of the game for the navy and gold as he's tied for the conference lead in made threes per game (2.8) while being second in helpers (4.1) and tied for second in steals (1.9). Bowen, another senior, has recorded 11 straight games with double-digit points and sits at tenth in the MAC Freedom in scoring (14.2 ppg) while pulling down 7.3 rebounds (fifth) on 57.1% shooting (first).
Wilkes is second in the conference in scoring, averaging 81.4 ppg while allowing 75.7 ppg.
Eastern will take the court after picking up an impressive road win at DeSales (67-63) on Wednesday evening to hand the Bulldogs their first conference loss of the season. The victory improved the Eagles to 5-2 in the MAC Freedom and 11-7 overall.
The Eagles offense is a three-headed attack starting with Darius Washington who ranks fifth in the MAC Freedom in scoring at 16.6 ppg. The senior gets to the line frequently as he is tied for tenth in free throw attempts and ranks ninth in free throw percentage at 76.1%. Michael Bowlers is 12th in scoring with 14.0 ppg while ranking third in both rebounds (8.7) and field goal percentage (55.7%). Senior guard Austin Duncan rounds out the trio with 13.7 ppg (14th) thanks to shooting 38.3% from beyond the arc (sixth).
Eastern averages 77.2 ppg while allowing the third most to opponents at 75.5 ppg.
