WILKES-BARRE – The Wilkes University men's basketball team returned home to the Marts Center Wednesday night for a regional showdown against the University of Scranton Royals.
 
The Royals (3-1) shot 8-of-16 from the three-point stripe to put the Colonels (4-1) in a first half hole they would never recover from on the way to a 91-62 defeat.
 
The Colonels built up an early 14-8 lead off of 14 points from senior guards Rob Pecorelli (Huntington, NY/Harborfields) and Mark Mullins (Binghamton, NY/Chenango Valley).  The Royals tied the game up off of a 9-5 run at 17 apiece before ending the half on a 30-9 run to give themselves a 21 point lead heading into the locker room.  The second half went little better for the Colonels, as they only managed to cut the Royal lead down to 18 halfway through the period, but the Royals outscored the Colonels by 13 down the stretch to comfortably put away the Colonels.
 
Matthew Mancuso managed a double-double in the first half on his way to a 19 points and 17 rebounds night.  Four Royals scored over 15 points on the evening and as a team shot 41.4% from the three-point arc for the game.  The Colonels as a squad shot 28.6% from the three-point line and 37.1% from the field, compared to the Royals 52.3%.  Pecorelli scored 19 points, while Mullins scored 18 points.
 
The Colonels look to bounce back with a home tilt against Clarks Summit on Saturday at 5:00 p.m. in the Marts Center.  The Colonels are 8-1 against Clarks Summit since 2010.