WILKES-BARRE – The Wilkes University men's basketball team used hot shooting and a stifling defense to open Middle Atlantic Conference Freedom (MAC Freedom) play with a 78-44 victory over visiting Lycoming College at the Marts Center Wednesday night.

Wilkes improved to 4-3 overall and 1-0 in the league with the victory while Lycoming, the preseason favorite to win the MAC Freedom, dropped to 3-4 overall and 0-1 in the conference.

The Colonels shot a season's best .536 from the floor (30-for-56) while holding the Warriors to a .286 field goal percentage (16-for-56). Wilkes also forced Lycoming into 17 turnovers, had 10 steals, and seven blocks.

Wilkes opened the game with the first five points and held an 11-3 lead following a Lucas Lesko (Northampton, PA/Northampton) jumper with 11:24 left in the first half. The Colonels then went on a 12-0 run to make the score 23-5 with 6:48 on the first half clock. Jake Robel (Middlesex, NJ/Middlesex) had eight points during the run including an emphatic dunk on the fast break following a steal.

The Colonels lead went to as many as 21 following a three by Joey Zvorsky (New Cumberland, PA/Cedar Cliff) to make the score 30-9 with 3:31 left in the first half. A Cayden Merrifield (Scranton, PA/West Scranton) layup closed the scoring in the first 20 minutes with Wilkes leading 35-15.

Wilkes did not let up at the start of the second half as early buckets from Trent Fisher (Sellersville, PA/Pennridge), Matthew Davidheiser (Reading, PA/Exeter Township), and Drake Marshall (Gainesville, VA/Patriot) pushed the lead to 43-17. Wilkes continued its masterful play on both the offensive side and defensive, eventually building its largest lead of 40 points with 51 seconds left in the game following a layup by Colin Ackerman (Manasquan, NJ/Wall Township) that made the score 78-38.

Merrifield and Marshall led Wilkes with 13 points and Davidheiser added 12. The 13 points were one off a career high for Merrifield as the sophomore guard added five rebounds, four assists, two steals, and a block to his line in 29 minutes. Marshall led the team with a game-high nine rebounds. Zvorsky had eight points, five rebounds, four assists, four steals, and a block in a game-high 32 minutes. Twelve Colonels reached the scoring column in the victory.

Wilkes led 22-3 in points off turnovers, 13-2 in second chance points, 35-12 in points in the paint, 11-2 in fast break points, and 41-31 in rebounding. The Colonels were 7-for-14 (50.0%) from behind the arc and 11-for-18 (61.1%) from the free throw line while Lycoming was 8-for-31 (25.8%) from three and 4-for-7 (57.1%) from the line.

The Colonels remain home for a non-conference game against Lebanon Valley College at the Marts Center on Saturday at 3:00 p.m.