ANNVILLE, PA – Lucas Lesko (Northampton, PA/Northampton) and Trent Fisher (Sellersville, PA/Pennridge) each tallied double-doubles as the Wilkes University men's basketball team used a big first half to secure a 62-51 non-conference road win at Lebanon Valley College Wednesday night in the Sorrentino Gymnasium.
 
Wilkes improved to 2-0 overall on the young season while LVC dropped to 0-4 overall on the year.
 
The first half proved to be the difference for the Colonels outscoring LVC 37-14 over the first twenty minutes of play. Lesko scored inside before sending home a dunk to give Wilkes a 16-7 lead early. Two possessions later a Jason Eberhart (Lebanon, PA/Cedar Crest) layup forced a LVC timeout with the Colonels leading 18-7 with just over 11 minutes left in the first half.
 
The lead continued to grow after Jack Argento (Hershey, PA/Hershey) connected on a three-pointer and Fisher scored in the paint as Wilkes led 26-8 with 6:11 left in the half. A 13-2 run over the final six minutes put the Colonels ahead by 23 at the break, their largest of the game, as Lesko fired in seven points and Argento buried another long trey to close the half.
 
The lead stayed over 15 points midway through the second half before the hosts began a comeback attempt. LVC pulled to within single digits twice, trailing 52-43 with under six minutes remaining, but back-to-back buckets from Fisher pushed the advantage back to 13. Wilkes then hit all six free throw attempts over the final minute of play when LVC was forced to play the fouling game which in turn secured the road non-league victory for the Colonels.
 
Lesko poured in a game-high 18 points while grabbing 12 rebounds to lead the Wilkes attack. Fisher followed with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Joey Zvorsky (New Cumberland, PA/Cedar Cliff), Argento and Cayden Merrifield (Scranton, PA/West Scranton) each posted eight points in the win.
 
Ryan Harder topped LVC with a team-high 14 points and seven rebounds. LVC shot just 22.2 percent from the floor during the Wilkes first half onslaught as the Colonels defense limited the hosts to just six made field goals in the opening twenty minutes.
 
The Colonels return home Saturday hosting Alvernia University at 4:00 p.m. at the Marts Center in another non-conference matchup.