WILKES-BARRE – The Wilkes University men's and women's basketball teams will make a trip to the nation's capital this weekend for a pair of games against Catholic University of America. The men tip off against the Cardinals at 2:00 p.m. while the women take the court at 4:00 p.m.
 
Men's: Live Stats | Live Video
Women's: Live Stats | Live Video
 
Men's Preview
The Colonels have opened the season on a hot streak, carrying a 5-0 record into their meeting with the Cardinals. The team's only loss came in an exhibition loss to Division I Lafayette College. Last time out, the Colonels overpowered the University of Scranton 68-48 in the program's first-ever Landmark Conference game.
 
Lucas Lesko (Northampton, PA/Northampton) stood out on the court in the Colonel's last game, putting up 22 points and five rebounds in the win. He currently leads the team with an average 18.0 points per game; the third-best mark in the Landmark Conference. Cayden Merrifield (Scranton, PA/West Scranton) and Trent Fisher (Sellersville, PA/Pennridge) are also averaging double-digit point totals with 14.6 ppg and 13.8 ppg respectively, putting the duo at sixth and ninth in the conference. Joey Zyvorsky (9.8 ppg) and Jack Argento (Hershey, PA/Hershey) (8.0 ppg) round out the team's top scorers.
 
Fisher leads the team in rebounds averaging 8.8 rpg, the fourth most in the conference. He is followed closely by Lesko with 8.0 rpg in fifth. As a team, Wilkes leads the conference with an average of 41.4 rpg.
 
Fisher also leads the team with 3.4 assists-per-game to put him fourth in the conference while Zvorsky currently averages 2.2 apg. He continues to dominate the stat sheet with his .630 field goal percentage, putting him third in the conference. Argento leads the Colonels from beyond the arc with a .412 three point percentage, while Lesko is fourth in the conference in three pointers per game with 2.6.
 
The Colonel defense has been particularly strong to this point in the season, led by Lesko with 1.6 blocks per game and Zvorsky with 2.2 steals per game, marks that are the third and fifth best in the Landmark in their respective categories. As a whole, the team ranks at the top of the conference charts in team defense allowing only 58.8 ppg, and opponent field goal percentage (.352). They also stand at second in defensive rebounds with 34.0 drpg.
 
The offense has been equally as strong, sitting third in the conference averaging 74.8 ppg, second in team field goal percentage (.459), and third averaging 7.8 three-pointers per game.
 
Catholic enters this contest coming off of back-to-back wins against Marymount and Elizabethtown. The Cardinals currently stand at 5-1 on the season and received votes in the latest D3hoops.com poll, falling just outside the top 25.
 
Tommy Kelly and Jesse Hafemeister lead Catholic in scoring with 12.8 ppg and 12.7 ppg. The duo both enter the contest with .475 field goal percentages.
 
Dan Buckley leads the team in rebounds and steals with 7.7 rpg and 1.5 spg. Kelly leads the team averaging 2.7 apg. The pair of guards have both sunk ten three-pointers through six games this season.
 
CJ Ruoff boasts an impressive .611 field goal percentage and has made half of his shots from behind the arc.
 
The Cardinals' offense currently stands right behind the Colonels at fourth place in the conference for scoring (72.2 ppg). Catholic also possesses the third best defense in the landmark, only allowing 62.7 ppg.
 
Women's Preview
The Colonels were dealt their first loss of the season on Wednesday when they fell to the University of Scranton 72-44. Despite the loss, Wilkes is off to a hot start this season as the squad has gone 4-0 to begin the campaign. This was the program's best start since 2002-03 when the Colonels started the season 8-0.
 
Yamirelis Matos (Springfield, MA/Chicopee) leads the Colonels in scoring averaging 11.8 ppg, the tenth best in the conference. She is closely followed by Nadia Evanosky (Dallas, PA/Dallas), who is averaging 11.2 ppg to put her fourteenth in the Landmark. Senior Brenna Babcock (Sweet Valley, PA/Northwest Area) averages 9.0 ppg and leads the team with a .594 field goal percentage. Erin Shober (Reading, PA/Wilson) and Emma Stout (Bangor, PA/Bangor) round out the top scorers, averaging 5.4 ppg and 5.2 ppg respectively. Shober tops the Landmark with 3.6 blocked shots per game; a number that is two times higher than her closest competition.
 
Madison Robel (Middlesex, NJ/Middlesex) sits fourth in the conference averaging a team-high 7.8 rebounds per game, followed by Matos with 6.6 rpg, and Shober with 5.4 rpg. Julia Marino (Washington Township, NJ/Washington Township) is eighth in the conference averaging 3.0 assists per game and has the best assist-to-turnover ratio in the Landmark at 5.0.
 
Stout takes top marks from beyond the arc with a .364 three point percentage.
 
Wilkes places sixth in the Landmark for both offensive and defensive production. The Colonels  average 62.8 ppg and only allow 58.4 ppg. The Colonel defense also tops the charts for opponent field goal percentage (.311), and defensive rebounds (31.0), and stands alone in opponent three point percentage (.222) and blocked shots (5.8 bpg).
 
Catholic enters the matchup with an undefeated 6-0 record after beating No. 18 Elizabethtown 79-70 in their conference opener on Wednesday. Like the men's team, the Cardinal women also received votes in the latest D3hoops.com Top 25 poll.
 
The Colonels' will be tasked with defending the leading scorer in the conference, Keegan Douglas. Douglas has collected 108 points thus far in the season and averages exactly 18 ppg. The junior guard also carries with her a .579 field goal percentage and has hit 47.4 percent of her shots from downtown.
 
Kerry Flaherty averages 11 ppg and leads the team with 15 three-pointers made on the season. She currently possesses the best three-point field goal percentage (.455) in the conference. Carly Mulvaney and Anna Scoblick follow with 10.5 ppg and 9 ppg respectively. Scoblick also leads the team in rebounds with 7.2 rpg, good for seventh in the Landmark. The sophomore ranks right behind Shober in blocked shots with an average of 1.7 bpg.
 
Rounding out the top Cardinal scorers is Sarah White, who averages 8.7 ppg and stands at second in the conference in steals with 3.3 spg.
 
The Cardinals possess the second highest-producing offense in the conference, averaging 72.5 ppg. They also rank high defensively, only allowing 56.0 ppg. This is the third lowest total in the conference. The Colonels will be careful to avoid turning the ball over, as Catholic has stolen the ball 82 already this season and boasts a conference-high 13.67 spg.