WILKES-BARRE – The Wilkes University men's and women's basketball teams look to get back on track at home as they compete against DeSales University in Middle Atlantic Conference Freedom (MAC Freedom) action on Wednesday night at the Marts Center. The men's game will start off the action at 6:00 p.m. with the women following at 8:00 p.m. The Wilkes University Student Development and Programming Board is sponsoring White Out the Marts where students will be admitted free to both games and all students will have a chance to win prizes during each contest.

Live Stats – (men)
Live Stats – (women)
Live Video – (both games)
 
Admission:
Adults - $5
Senior Citizens - $3
Students - FREE with valid ID

Men's Preview:
Wilkes comes into the contest with a 10-9 overall record and 5-5 in MAC Freedom play. Wilkes also enters the game going 6-3 at home this year, with their last home contest being a buzzer beating loss to Stevens Institute of Technology 65-63 this past Saturday. The Colonels lost their last contest to DeSales on the road when they fell to the Bulldogs 71-67 on December 7.

Trent Fisher (Sellersville, PA/Pennridge) leads the Colonels in scoring to start the year with 12.8 points-per-game (ppg) which puts him 11th in the MAC Freedom with Drake Marshall (Gainesville, VA/Patriot) following behind on the team and in conference with 12.5 ppg. Cayden Merrifield (Scranton, PA/West Scranton) is third on the team as he averages 11.0 ppg. Lucas Lesko (Northampton, PA/Northampton) and Joey Zvorsky (New Cumberland, PA/Cedar Cliff) round out the Colonels scorers with 9.0 and 7.5 respectively.

Fisher is fifth in the conference with 7.5 rebounds-per-game (rpg) as he leads the Colonels in that category, with back-to-back games with double digit rebounds. Marshall follows with 5.7 rpg which is 11th in the league. Merrifield is fifth in the MAC Freedom with 3.5 assists-per-game (apg) while Zvorsky is tied for 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 sixth place in the conference in three-point field goal percentage with 40.4% from beyond the arc. Fisher is third in the conference with a .579 field goal percentage and tied for fourth with 1.5 blocks-per-game (bpg). Merrifield is tied for sixth in the conference with 1.4 steals-per-game (spg) while Zvorsky is tied for ninth with 1.3 spg and Fisher is 12th with 1.2 spg.
 
Wilkes is tied for third in the MAC Freedom in scoring offense with 70.6 ppg while ranking second in scoring defense at 63.8 ppg, which is tied for 30th overall out of 413 Division III teams currently.

DeSales enters with a 17-3 overall record this season with a perfect 11-0 conference record. The Bulldogs are 7-1 on the road this season, winning their last three contests when on the opponent's court. DeSales had their second best scoring day on the season as they won 90-47 over Lycoming College this past weekend.

Nate Ellis leads DeSales with 11.2 ppg with Elijah Eberly being second on the team with 11.0 ppg. Ryan Boylan and Jordan Holmqvist round out the scoring with 9.1 ppg and 8.6 ppg respectively.

Eberly is sixth in the MAC Freedom with 7.3 rpg while Caleb Gibbs is 10th in the conference with 6.1 rpg. Mason Barnes is tied for sixth in MAC Freedom with 3.1 apg as he has 50 assists on the season. Eberly is tied for fourth in the conference with 1.5 bpg while Barnes is tied for fourth with 1.6 spg.

Eberly leads the team in field goal percentage, shooting 58.8% from the field, ranking second in the conference, while Holmqvist is eighth in the MAC Freedom for three-point percentage as he has a .389% beyond the arc, making 42-of-108 threes.

DeSales is first in the MAC Freedom in scoring offense with 76.0 ppg and in scoring defense with 66.7 ppg, with the Bulldogs ranking 15th out of 413 teams in the nation in scoring defense.

The Bulldogs lead the series 22-8 dating back to the 2008-09 season.
 
Women's Preview: 
Wilkes comes into the game with a 5-14 record on the season, holding a 4-6 conference record in the MAC Freedom this season. Wilkes is 3-7 at home this season, dropping their last home contest to Stevens this past weekend inside the Marts Center. The Colonels lost their last matchup to DeSales on December 7 as the Colonels fell to the Bulldogs 57-36.

Yamirelis Matos (Springfield, MA/Chicopee) leads the Colonels in scoring with 9.2 ppg, which is 16th 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 5.7 ppg.

Matos leads Wilkes with 4.5 rebounds-per-game (rpg). Babcock is second with 4.3 rpg while Horton is third with 3.8. Julia Marino (Washington Township, NJ/Washington Township) is tied for third in the MAC Freedom with 2.9 assists-per-game (apg), totaling 55 on the season.

Marino leads Wilkes with 43 steals, tied for seventh in the conference with 2.3 steals-per-game (spg). Matos follows behind with 32 steals and is 13th in the MAC Freedom with 1.8 spg. Erin Shober (Reading, PA/Wilson) is tied for seventh in the league with 1.2 blocks-per-game (bpg) with 21 total blocks this season.

Babcock leads the Colonels with a 41.0 field goal percentage while Horton is tied for 10th in the conference with 1.2 threes-per-game, shooting .296 from beyond the arc. 
  
Wilkes is seventh in the MAC Freedom in scoring offense at 50.9 ppg and fifth in scoring defense at 58.6 ppg.

DeSales is 18-1 on the season and is in first place in the MAC Freedom with a 10-1 conference record, ranking No.9 in the country by d3hoops.com and No. 8 by the WBCA. The Bulldogs are 5-1 on the road, winning their last matchup as a visiting team when they beat King's College 66-28. DeSales won their last matchup against Wilkes on December 7 when they beat the Colonels 57-36.

Megan Bealer leads DeSales with 13.2 ppg, ranking fifth in the conference. Mikaela Reese is second on the team and ninth in the MAC Freedom with 10.9 ppg while Lindsey Welsh follows behind on the Bulldogs and in the conference with 10.5 ppg. Abigail Rafferty and Amelia Saunders round out the scoring for DeSales with 8.5 and 7.8 ppg respectively.

Rafferty is tied for eighth in the MAC Freedom in rebounds with 6.8 rpg while Reese and Bealer are both tied for 11th in the conference with 6.3 rpg. Bealer and Welsh are tied for sixth in the conference with 2.8 apg while Maria Newsome and Grace Kelleher both average 2.5 apg, tied for 10th in the conference. Bealer leads in the MAC Freedom with 3.7 spg while Reese is second with 2.6 bpg and tied for third with 2.6 spg.

Bealer is second in the MAC Freedom with 48.5 field goal percentage while Reese follows behind on the team while placing fourth in the conference as shoots 45.1 from the field. Saunders leads the conference in three-point field goal percentage as she averages .342%, making 27-of-79 from beyond the arc.

DeSales is first in the MAC Freedom in scoring offense with 72.4 ppg and in scoring defense at 37.3 ppg. The Bulldogs rank first in the nation in scoring defense and 41st in scoring offense out of 413 teams.

The Bulldogs lead the series with a perfect 28-0 record dating back to the 2008-09 season.