PHILADELPHIA, PA – Host the University of Pennsylvania jumped out to a 22-point halftime lead and never looked back as the Quakers posted a 93-61 exhibition victory over the Wilkes University men's basketball team Wednesday afternoon at the Palestra.
 
It marked the first time under the Izzi Metz led era that the Colonels faced a Division I opponent.
 
Penn built a 17-4 lead with 14:01 left in the first half thanks to three three-pointers and three free throws from Jonah Charles. A three-point play from Drake Marshall (Gainesville, VA/Patriot) and subsequent steal and three-pointer from Cayden Merrifield (Scranton, PA/West Scranton) cut into the Quakers lead as Wilkes trailed 30-17 with 9:10 remaining in the half.
 
Penn then used a 16-4 run over the next seven minutes including two more threes from Charles, his fourth and fifth treys of the half, to push the advantage to 46-21 with 2:32 until the break. One of two free throws from Argento followed by a Marshall jumper sent the game into the half with Penn leading 46-24.
 
Penn used a 15-0 run over a 3:40 span to open the second half before Merrifield knocked down a baseline jumper as Wilkes trailed 61-28 with 15:35 on the clock. The lead grew to as many as 35 over the next eight minutes as Lucas Lesko (Northampton, PA/Northampton) drilled a three at the top of the circle and Zachary Gula (Walnutport, PA/Northampton) hit a layup off a backdoor feed from Merrifield for the Colonels scores.
 
Joey Zvorsky (New Cumberland, PA/Cedar Cliff) leaked out ahead for an uncontested transition layup then followed with a corner three-pointer and Merrifield added a trey to cap off the scoring for Wilkes over the final three minutes of play.
 
Marshall led all Wilkes scorers with 16 points on 6-of-12 shooting.. Merrifield followed with 12 points and three assists while Zvorsky and and Lesko added eight points each.
 
Penn saw three players reach double figures including Charles (18), Cam Thrower (13) and Clark Slajchert (11).
 
Wilkes returns to Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) Freedom play Wednesday, January 4 when the Colonels travel to Hoboken, N.J. for a matchup with Stevens Institute of Technology at 6:00 p.m.