Wilkes Basketball Travel Across Town in Conference Road Matchup Against King's
WILKES-BARRE – The Wilkes University men's and women's basketball teams will travel across the town as they continue their Middle Atlantic Conference Freedom (MAC Freedom) matchups this Wednesday as they face King's College inside McGrane Gymnasium. The men's game starts off the action at 6:00 p.m. with the women playing at 8:00 p.m.
Live Stats – (men)
Live Stats – (women)
Live Video – (both games)
Admission:
Adults - $5
Senior Citizens - $3
Students (valid ID) - $2
Men's Preview:
Wilkes comes into the contest with a 9-7 overall record and 4-3 in MAC Freedom play. Wilkes enters this game going 3-4 on the road this season. The Colonels enter this game after earning a 73-62 win over Delaware Valley university.
Drake Marshall (Gainesville, VA/Patriot) leads the Colonels in scoring to start the year with 13.0 points-per-game (ppg) which puts him 10th in the MAC Freedom. Trent Fisher (Sellersville, PA/Pennridge), who played his first game this past Saturday since December 7th, is averaging 11.3 ppg and Cayden Merrifield (Scranton, PA/West Scranton) is scoring 10.9 ppg. Lesko and Joey Zvorsky (New Cumberland, PA/Cedar Cliff) round out the Colonels scorers with 9.3 and 7.2 respectively.
Fisher is seventh in the conference with 7.2 rebounds-per-game (rpg) as he leads the Colonels. Marshall follows with 5.6 rpg which is 13th in the league. Merrifield is fourth in the conference with 3.5 assists-per-game (apg) while Zvorsky is 10th with 2.9 apg.
Matthew Davidheiser (Reading, PA/Exeter Township) is currently shooting 45.5% in three-point field goals, which leads the MAC Freedom conference. Merrifield holds fifth place in the conference in that category with 41.8% from beyond the arc with his 33 made three-pointers. Fisher is second in the conference with a .613 field goal percentage and fifth with 1.1 blocks-per-game (bpg). Merrifield is tied for fifth in the conference with 1.6 steals-per-game (spg) while Zvorsky is ninth with 1.4 spg.
Wilkes is fourth in the MAC Freedom in scoring offense with 71.2 ppg while ranking first in scoring defense at 64.1 ppg, which is tied for 36th overall out of 413 Division III teams currently.
King's enters with a 6-9 overall record this season with a 1-6 conference record. The Monarchs are 6-3 at home this season, winning three out of their last four home contests. King's lost their conference matchup this past Saturday as they fell to Lycoming College 92-54.
Will Johnson leads King's with 14.1 ppg, which would be good for sixth in the MAC Freedom conference. Chris Patton is second on the team with 13.4 ppg, tying him for eighth in the conference. Carmine Castiello and Eamonn Walsh round out the scoring with 8.5 ppg and 7.6 ppg respectively.
Garrett Burys leads the Monarch's and is eighth in the MAC Freedom with 6.1 rpg while Johnson follows behind on the team and tied for 17th in the conference with 5.0 rpg. Johnson leads the MAC Freedom with 4.1 apg as he has 57 assists on the season. Burys is eighth in the MAC Freedom with 1.0 bpg while Johnson is tied for fifth in the conference with 1.6 spg.
Marc is ranked 17th in the conference in field goal percentage, shooting 44.4%. Patton shoots .413 three-point percentage as he is 19-for-46 on the year.
King's is third in the MAC Freedom scoring 73.1 ppg and ninth in scoring defense with 74.5 ppg.
The Colonels hold the series lead over the Monarch's 13-9 dating back to 2010-2011, which include two victories last season for Wilkes.
Women's Preview:
Wilkes comes into the game with a 4-12 record on the season, holding a 3-4 conference record in the MAC Freedom this season. Wilkes is 1-5 on the road this year, losing their last road contest to Arcadia University. The Colonels are coming off a 61-50 victory over Delaware Valley.
Yamirelis Matos (Springfield, MA/Chicopee) leads the Colonels in scoring with 10.1 ppg which is tied for 12th in the MAC Freedom. Brenna Babcock (Sweet Valley, PA/Northwest Area) is second on the team with 7.2 ppg and Brianna Horton (Verona, NJ/Verona) is third with 5.9 ppg.
Matos leads Wilkes with 4.9 rpg. Babcock is second with 4.3 rpg while Horton is third with 3.9. Julia Marino (Washington Township, NJ/Washington Township) is tied for seventh in the MAC Freedom with 2.8 apg, totaling 45 on the season.
Marino leads Wilkes with 34 steals, tied for eighth in the conference with 2.1 spg. Matos follows behind with 31 steals and is 12th in the MAC Freedom with 1.9 spg. Erin Shober (Reading, PA/Wilson) is tied for sixth in the league with 1.2 bpg with 18 total blocks this season.
Matos leads the Colonels with a 35.7 field goal percentage while Brianna Horton (Verona, NJ/Verona) is tied ninth in the conference with 1.2 threes-per-game, shooting .339 from beyond the arc.
Wilkes is seventh in the MAC Freedom in scoring offense at 52.1 ppg and fifth in scoring defense at 58.9 ppg.
King's is 3-13 on the season 2-5 in the MAC Freedom. The Monarch's are 1-6 at home this year, losing their last home matchup against Albright College 75-50 on Saturday.
Lauren Casey leads King's with 6.6 ppg. Cailin Wilson is second on the team with 6.4 ppg. Kathy Shepherd and Alli Lindsay are third and fourth on the team in scoring with 5.6 and 4.8 ppg respectively.
Casey has 4.9 rpg while Sarah Heiskell-Mann follows behind with 3.8 rpg. Kiersten Krouse averages 1.9 apg and 1.2 spg as she leads King's in both categories. Casey averages 0.5 bpg, blocking 8 shots this season.
WIlson leads the Monarch's with a 46.1 field goal percentage while shooting .371% from beyond the arc.
King's is eighth in the MAC Freedom in scoring offense with 48.8 ppg and in scoring defense at 64.3 ppg.
King's leads the series over Wilkes 21-3 dating back to the 2009-2010 season, winning 13 out of the last 14 matchups.
