SCRANTON, PA – The Wilkes University men's basketball squad traveled up I-81 to face the Scranton Royals in a nonconference tilt Wednesday evening.
 
The Colonels (2-1) fell 100-72 to the Royals (2-1) after a late first half burst by Scranton to suffer their first setback of the season.
 
The Colonels started out strong, with their three-point shooting helping them to hold onto a five-point lead for the middle of the first half and building up a 26-21 lead.  The Royals poured it on with a 23-2 run to close the first half and shut the door on the Colonels.  The Navy and Gold attempted to claw back into the game, cutting the Royal lead to 48-38 off the back of a pair of steals and a pair of threes fueling a 10-4 run but failed to get any closer as Scranton went on to a decisive victory.
 
Scranton shot 55.6 (35 of 63) from the field compared to Wilkes shooting 35.7 (25 of 70).  Five Royals scored in the double digits, with Jackson Danzig hitting 20 points.  Ryan Erms was just shy of a double-double with 14 points and nine rebounds.  Sophomore guard Matthew Davidheiser (Reading, PA/Exeter Township) scored 12 points to lead all Colonels, while senior guard Sean Coller (Hershey, PA/Hershey) had eight points and a trio of steals.
 
The Colonels look to bounce back from the loss with the last game of their four-game road swing this Saturday.  They travel to Grantham, Pa. to battle with Messiah at 5:00 p.m. in a series that Messiah leads 2-1 in the live stats era.