Second Half Surge Not Enough As Wilkes Men's Basketball Falls To Scranton
WILKES-BARRE – Wilkes University men's basketball team outpaced the University of Scranton 35-30 in the second half, taking the lead, but were unable to finish off the rally as the Colonels fell to the Royals 63-56 in non-conference action at Marts Center on Wednesday night.
Wilkes drops to 2-2 on the year while Scranton remains undefeated at 3-0 early in the season.
The game started with Trent Fisher (Sellersville, PA/Pennridge) getting the first bucket for Wilkes, while Stephen Braustein had a three two minutes later to begin the matchup. This would continue early on as the teams would trade buckets, eventually tying the game at 11-11 with eight minutes into the first period. After trading buckets once more, the Royals would score the next 11 points, as Tahaj Parland and Jackson Danzig would hit threes to give Scranton a 24-13 lead.
Wilkes would push back and try to get in the game, but the Royals would outscore the Colonels 9-8 to go into halftime 33-21. Scranton would shoot 33% on the field but be 6-18 from the three-point line while the Colonels shot 34% in field goals, but only being 20% from three.
The second half would change pace, as Matthew Davidheiser (Reading, PA/Exeter Township) would hit back-to-back threes, making him 3-for-3 from that range while Cayden Merrifield (Scranton, PA/West Scranton) would add another three to make Wilkes be only down by one 37-36 five minutes into the second half.
After Danzig made a free throw, Jake Robel (Middlesex, NJ/Middlesex) made a layup to tie the game and Drake Marshall (Gainesville, VA/Patriot) hit a three pointer to give Wilkes the lead 41-40, the first time the Colonels had the lead since 12:46 in the first period. Both Wilkes and Scranton would change the lead eight times in 10 minutes of the game, which saw Fisher and Marshall total 11 points during that stretch.
Scranton would have a 55-53 lead after Stephen Braunstein was fouled and made both his free throws with 3:36 left in the game. Wilkes would see Merrifield miss his three and Marshall not hit his layup, giving the ball back to the Royals. After another foul and two free throws made by Spatola, Fisher would get a layup to keep it a two-point game in the final two minutes. However, Wilkes would only make one free throw down the stretch as Scranton would score six of the last seven points in the game and leave with a 63-56 victory over the Colonels.
Wilkes would shoot 41.8% on the night, while Scranton only shot 34.5%. The Royals went 17-for-19 at the free throw line, while the Colonels went 3-for-6 in the game.
Fisher and Davidheiser would both lead the team with 15 points on the night. Marshall would have a double-double, scoring 14 points and earning 11 rebounds in the game. Joey Zvorsky (New Cumberland, PA/Cedar Cliff) had five assists on the night, with Davidheiser, Marshall, Merrifield, and Jack Argento (Hershey, PA/Hershey) giving two each. Fisher had three steals, with Lucas Lesko (Northampton, PA/Northampton) following suit with two of his own.
Wilkes will go on the road as they visit Alvernia University on Saturday, November 19 at 2:00 p.m. in a non-conference matchup.
