Strong Defensive Effort Leads Men's Basketball to Important Home Win
WILKES-BARRE – The Wilkes University men's basketball team used a team defensive effort to hold the Manhattanville College Valiants to under 33% shooting from the floor in a huge 76-62 home victory on Wednesday night. With the win, the Colonels currently sit in the fourth and final playoff spot at 5-4 in the MAC Freedom (13-7 overall).
The game was tight in the opening minutes as a Tommy Bowen (Hummelstown, PA/Lower Dauphin) layup gave the Colonels an early 7-4 lead three minutes into the contest.
After a Manhattanville bucket, Wilkes would go on an 11-0 run, capped off by a Connor Evans (Cicero, NY/Cicero-North Syracuse) layup, to give the navy and gold an 18-6 advantage halfway through the first half.
A Rob Pecorelli (Huntington, NY/Harborfields) three followed by a Mark Mullins (Binghamton, NY/Chenango Valley) layup ballooned the Colonels lead to 32-17, forcing the Valiants to call a timeout with 5:52 left until the break.
Manhattanville would respond by closing the half on a 15-5 run to trail by just five, 37-32, at the half.
The Valiants cut the deficit to two, 42-40, two minutes into the second half but the Colonels would keep the visitors at an arm's length as they held a slim 48-45 lead with 12:15 remaining in the game.
Manhattanville briefly took the lead with a three-pointer but Evans answered with one of his own to knot the game up at 51-51 with ten minutes to go. The visitors answered with another three to retake the lead but Jack Bova (Camillus, NY/West Genesee) knocked down a crucial three to tie the score back up.
On the next Colonels possession, Mullins threw down a monstrous dunk to give Wilkes a 56-54 lead as part of a 9-0 run that stretched the Colonels advantage to 61-54 with 7:37 remaining on the clock.
A Zach Walser (Marcellus, NY/Bishop Ludden) layup pushed the lead to nine with 5:15 remaining as the Valiants would only get as close as five in the final minutes before Wilkes made its free throws down the stretch to win by double-digits 76-62.
Evans was the high-scorer for the navy and gold with 18 points while Mullins picked up a double-double with 16 points and 15 rebounds.
Wilkes remains at home as it welcomes the first place DeSales Bulldogs to the Marts Center on Saturday, February 2nd at 2:00 p.m.
