Early Deficit Too Much to Overcome for Wilkes Men's Basketball in MAC Freedom Championship
CENTER VALLEY, Pa. – The Wilkes University men's basketball team fell by a 78-66 final at DeSales University in the Middle Atlantic Conference Freedom (MAC Freedom) Tournament Championship on Saturday afternoon.
The Colonels now stand at 18-9 on the season.
DeSales got on the board to start the game with a layup at the 19:05 mark. Tommy Bowen (Hummelstown, PA/Lower Dauphin) opened the scoring for Wilkes 50 seconds later with a layup to tie the score. From there, the Bulldogs went on a 9-0 run to take an 11-2 lead before Bowen converted another layup to break up the run at 15:56.
DeSales maintained the advantage throughout the first half, pushing its lead to as much as 19 with 4:40 left until the half at 40-21 as the Bulldogs entered the break with a 48-30 lead.
Rob Pecorelli (Huntington, NY/Harborfields) got the scoring started in the second half with a jumper to cut the score to 48-32 and after two defensive stops Marcus Robinson (Swedesboro, NJ/Kingsway Regional) got on the board with two points of his own before Tracy Simsick converted a three-point play for DeSales to make the score 50-34 with 18:21 on the clock.
Pecorelli found himself underneath on Wilkes' next possession, and converted both free throws after getting fouled on his layup attempt. The Bulldogs missed a three-pointer on their next trip and after pulling down the defensive rebound, Connor Evans (Cicero, NY/Cicero-North Syracuse) found Tommy Bowen (Hummelstown, PA/Lower Dauphin) on the break for a layup causing DeSales to call a full timeout with 17:53 on the clock and the score 51-38.
Coming out of the timeout Pecorelli made a nice defensive play to poke the ball away from a cutting DeSales player leading to a foul on the Bulldogs on the other end of the court. On the resulting offensive possession, Evans cut left to right from the top of the key and after drawing the defender found Bowen underneath for a layup and a free throw after he was fouled on the shot.
The Bulldogs increased their lead to 55-41 before Robinson hit a running jumper sandwiched between back-to-back DeSales offensive fouls followed by a three-pointer from Robinson with an assist to Pecorelli to make the score 55-46 with 14:52 on the clock.
Evans came up with a steal on the Bulldogs next trip up the floor leading to a Pecorelli layup on the other end. DeSales countered on its next possession with a three-point play after Wilkes fouled on a layup attempt.
After an empty possession for the Colonels, the Bulldogs hit both ends of a one-and-one to make the score 60-48 with 12:43 on the clock. Landon Henry (Hughesville, PA/Hughesville) came up with a huge defensive play after missing a jumper on Wilkes' next possession, blocking a Matt Kachelries three-point attempt, leading to fast-break opportunity where he found Pecorelli slashing to the hoop for a layup. After a missed jumper on DeSales' next possession, Pecorelli was fouled pulling down the defensive rebound, leading to one-and-one opportunity, both of which were converted to cut the deficit to 60-52 at the 10:45 mark.
The Bulldogs converted a jumper on their next trip, but Jack Bova (Camillus, NY/West Genesee) entered the scoring column with a three-pointer that was countered by another DeSales jumper. From there, the Colonels stout defense and timely scoring allowed Wilkes to cut the score to 66-61 with under six minutes left.
After the Bulldogs increased the lead to 69-61 despite more great defense, Robinson banked in a three-pointer and was fouled, completing the four-point play to cut the deficit back to 69-65 with 3:10 on the clock.
DeSales finished the game on a 9-1 run to put the contest away.
Bowen led the way for Wilkes with 15 points and six rebounds. Robinson added 13 points, six rebounds, and three assists; Mark Mullins (Binghamton, NY/Chenango Valley) totaled 13 points, nine rebounds, and five steals; Pecorelli contributed 11 points, eight rebounds, and three assists; Evans finished with 11 points and four rebounds.
Matt Kachelries finished with 18 points, six rebounds, and four assists for the Bulldogs while Tracy Simsick added 16 points and Ben Pratt contributed 13 points, five rebounds, and three assists off the bench.
The Colonels now wait for a either an NCAA at-large bid or a berth to the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Tournament.
