Wilkes Men's Basketball Opens Season with 67-51 Victory, Metz Earns 100th Victory for Wilkes
EDWARDSVILLE – Izzi Metz earns his 100th victory as the head coach for the Colonels as Wilkes University men's basketball team begins their season with a 67-51 victory over Clarks Summit University in non-conference action at the Marts Center on Tuesday night.
Wilkes goes 1-0 to begin the season while Clarks starts off the year 0-1.
The Colonels started off with the first bucket in the game as Matthew Davidheiser (Reading, PA/Exeter Township) hit a three-pointer from Cayden Merrifield (Scranton, PA/West Scranton), where Wilkes would gain the lead and hold onto it through the rest of the game.
Wilkes and Clarks Summit begin to trade buckets back and forth, where the Defenders get a steal and layup from Kelvin Chest to make the game 14-11 halfway through the first half. Wilkes would go on an 18-3 run, led by two three-point shots from Jack Argento (Hershey, PA/Hershey) and one apiece from Merrifield, Lucas Lesko (Northampton, PA/Northampton), and Jackson Shafer (Milford, PA/Delaware Valley) to get the Colonels a 32-17 lead heading into halftime.
The Defenders would start by getting the first four points in the second half and would eventually get as close as seven points and make the score 45-37 around 10 minutes left into the game. Wilkes would then go on a 14-0 run and eventually carry that momentum to finish the game with a 67-51 victory to get Metz his 100th win as the Colonels head coach.
Drake Marshall (Gainesville, VA/Patriot), an All-Middle Atlantic Conference Freedom (MAC Freedom) Second Team selection last year, led the team with 11 points on the night. Trent Fisher (Sellersville, PA/Pennridge), last year's MAC Freedom leading scorer, followed behind with nine points while earning 12 rebounds on the night. Merrifield had four assists and two steals on the night while joining Joey Zvorsky (New Cumberland, PA/Cedar Cliff) as they both scored seven points apiece. Jason Eberhart (Lebanon, PA/Cedar Crest) comes off the bench with six rebounds and four points.
Wilkes had their bench help them keep the momentum continue on the court, as the Colonels scored 29 bench points, compared to Clarks Summit's 22 points from the bench. Wilkes earned more second chance points as they outscored the Defenders 16-9.
Wilkes will go on the road as they prepare to play in the Gettysburg Tip-Off Tournament, starting with the host Gettysburg College on Friday, Nov. 11 at 6:00 p.m.
