Bowen and Robinson Shine for Wilkes Men's Basketball in Defeat to DeSales
CENTER VALLEY, PA – Tommy Bowen (Hummelstown, PA/Lower Dauphin) scored a career-high 31 points while Marcus Robinson (Swedesboro, NJ/Kingsway Regional) hit six three-pointers to tie the school record for career three-point field goals made in the Colonels 97-85 road loss on Wednesday night.
Wilkes falls to 10-4 overall and 2-1 in the Middle Atlantic Conference Freedom while DeSales remains undefeated in conference play at 3-0 and improves to 10-4 overall.
DeSales jumped out to an early 13-4 lead on a three-pointer just over five minutes into the contest to force a quick Wilkes timeout.
The Colonels responded with a 22-5 run, thanks in part to three Robinson triples, to take a 26-18 lead at the 9:09 mark of the first half.
The Bulldogs answered with the next seven points to pull within one but a pair of Bowen free throws and another Robinson three would push the lead back to six with 6:06 to go until the break.
DeSales would cut the deficit to three but Bowen scored six points over the final two minutes and change to send Wilkes into the locker room up 41-34.
A Bowen layup stretched the Colonel lead to ten just over two minutes into the second half but the Bulldogs would counter with a 10-0 run to knot the game up at 48-48 with 15:47 remaining.
Mark Mullins (Binghamton, NY/Chenango Valley) broke the Bulldogs run with a jumper in the lane followed by a Robinson three and a pair of Bowen free throws to give the Colonels another seven-point advantage.
DeSales stormed back, this time with a three-pointer of their own, to give themselves a 61-60 lead with 12:19 remaining. The triple was the beginning of a 22-3 run that lasted the next 6:06 to put the Bulldogs ahead 80-63.
Connor Evans (Cicero, NY/Cicero-North Syracuse) scored the next five points for Wilkes to cut the deficit to 12 but DeSales pushed the lead back to 16 at 90-74 with 3:02 left in the game.
Another pair of Bowen free throws would cut the margin to nine with just under a minute remaining but time was on DeSales' side as they handed Wilkes their first conference loss of the season 97-85.
Bowen's 31 points were the game-high to go along with 13 rebounds for the double-double. Robinson finished with 25 points, a season-high, going 6-13 from beyond the arc.
The Colonels will look to bounce back when they welcome Eastern University to the Marts Center on Saturday, January 12th at 3:00 p.m.
