WILLIAMSPORT, PA – The Wilkes University men's basketball team trailed by just two at the half and saw three players reach double figures, but host Lycoming College used a late surge in the second half to seal a 69-62 MAC Freedom victory over the Colonels Wednesday night at Lamade Gymnasium.
 
Wilkes slipped to 3-9 overall and 1-4 in MAC Freedom games following the road defeat. Lycoming improved to 10-5 overall and 5-1 in league contests.
 
Wilkes jumped out to a 12-2 lead early in the first half using a 10-0 run capped by a Jackson Shafer (Milford, PA/Delaware Valley) jumper to finish off the rally. Wilkes continued to lead until late in the first half when the Warriors began to chip away at the margin eventually closing in and taking their second lead of the contest at 20-19 after Austin Loe buried a three-pointer with 5:24 on the clock.
 
The Lycoming advantage grew to as many as four with under four minutes to play until the break before Bradley Anacreon (Nesconset, NY/Sachem North) drilled a three-pointer to put the Colonels back ahead 27-26 with 3:08 left in the half. The Warriors finished off the half with a three-point basket following a Derek Heiserman (Lansdale, PA/North Penn) layup to take the slim 31-29lead into the break.
 
Lycoming steadily increased its lead to double figures as Matt Ilodigwe connected on back-to-back scores from behind the line to give the Warriors their largest lead of the game at 47-36 with 14:07 left in the contest. Two more scores pushed the advantage to 16 points before Joey Zvorsky (New Cumberland, PA/Cedar Cliff) stopped the run with a score in the paint as Wilkes trailed 52-38 with just under eleven minutes remaining.
 
The Colonels used a 19-5 run over the next seven minutes to come all the way back tying the game at 57 following a three-pointer from Shafer. Cayden Merrifield (Scranton, PA/West Scranton) made the comeback complete a minute later converting an old-fashioned three-point play to give Wilkes a 60-59 lead with 3:18 left in the game.
 
From there Lycoming's Mo Terry converted back-to-back treys to give the Warriors a 65-60 lead before sealing the game with a pair of free throws with under ten seconds on the clock.
 
Shafer and Heiserman led the Colonels with 15 points each combining for 12 rebounds and 12-for-23 shooting. Zvorsky notched a career-best 14 points on 6-for-15 shooting while Merrifield added eight points, three rebounds and four assists.
 
Terry led all Warriors with a game-high 20 points including 4-for-7 from behind the arc while adding seven rebounds. DeAundre Manuel  and Dyson Harward followed with 11 points each while Ilodigwe finished with nine points on three treys.
 
Wilkes returns home Saturday for the first time in 2022 hosting MAC Freedom foe Stevens Institute of Technology at 2:00 p.m. in the Marts Center.