First-Half Deficit Too Much as Wilkes Men's Basketball Falls at Drew
MADISON, N.J. – The Wilkes University men's basketball team found itself trailing 49-32 after the first 20 minutes, and was unable to make up the difference as it fell at Drew University in non-conference action by a 76-65 final on Sunday afternoon.
The Colonels are now 6-3 on the season while Drew improved to 7-1.
The Rangers jumped out to a 9-0 lead through two minutes before a Mark Mullins (Binghamton, NY/Chenango Valley) layup assisted by Nickerson DeMelfi (Newbury Park, CA/Newbury Park) stopped the run.
Drew had everything working in the first eight minutes as Wilkes found itself trailing 30-6 before ending the final 12 minutes of the half on a 26-19 run.
The Colonels cut the deficit to 10 in the second half on a 7-0 run featuring five points from Rob Pecorelli (Huntington, NY/Harborfields) and a layup from Jake Robel (Middlesex, NJ/Middlesex), but were unable to close the deficit.
Pecorelli led all Wilkes scorers with 18 points to go with six rebounds. Sean Coller (Hershey, PA/Hershey) added 12 points and four rebounds while Robel continued his hot start with 12 points and 12 rebounds off the bench for his first career double-double.
Riley Collins led Drew with a game-high 29 points, eight rebounds, and four assists. Lybrant Robinson added 13 points and six rebounds while Cole Hantz contributed 12 points.
The Colonels return to action after the holidays when they travel to The College of New Jersey on January 2nd for a 3:00 p.m. non-conference contest.
