Wilkes Basketball Hosts Juniata in Saturday Showdown

WILKES-BARRE – The Wilkes University men's and women's basketball teams play host to Juniata College on Saturday, December 9. This will be the men's final game at the Marts Center in 2023. The men get things started with a 2:00 p.m. matchup against the Eagles, while the women tip-off at 4:00 p.m.
 
Men's: Live Stats | Live Video
Women's: Live Stats | Live Video
 
Admission
Adults – $5
Senior Citizens – $3
Students (with valid ID) – $2
 
Men's Preview
The Colonels continued their impressive start to the season on Wednesday night as they took down Lycoming College 90-64. They currently stand at 6-1 overall and 2-1 in the Landmark, which places them at third place in the standings. Their only loss came against Catholic University, who was receiving votes in the D3hoops.com Top 25 poll at the time the teams faced off.
 
Trent Fisher (Sellersville, PA/Pennridge) played a huge role in Wilkes' victory over the Warriors, dropping a double-double with 28 points and 11 rebounds on the night. His strong performance catapulted him back into the team lead with 16.6 ppg. This figure is good for third place in the Landmark Conference. Fisher's 20 assists (2.9 apg) earns him the top spot on the Colonels and eighth place in the conference.
 
Lucas Lesko (Northampton, PA/Northampton) boasts the second-highest point average on the team with 15.7 ppg and currently sits at fifth in the Landmark. Cayden Merrifield (Scranton, PA/West Scranton) follows with 11.6 ppg. Joey Zvorsky (New Cumberland, PA/Cedar Cliff) (9.4 ppg) and Jack Argento (Hershey, PA/Hershey) (8.6 ppg) round out the top five scorers for Wilkes.
 
Fisher also leads the team in boards, averaging 9.1 rpg which places him second in the Landmark. Lesko joins him as one of the conference's top rebounders at number ten with 6.9 rpg. As a team, Wilkes' 41.4 rpg gives them the second-highest average in the conference.
 
Lesko continues to frustrate opponents on defense, as the forward holds the team lead in blocked shots with ten. His 1.4 bpg lands him at third in the Landmark. Zvorsky has a team-high 13 steals on the season and ranks seventh in the conference with 1.9 spg. As a team, the Colonels only allow an average of 63.9 points-per-game; the fourth lowest in the conference.
 
The Wilkes offense has stayed hot on the court, averaging 73.0 ppg which puts them in third amongst all Landmark offenses. The team possesses the third-highest field goal percentage in the conference, shooting .445 from the field. Fisher sits atop all Colonel shooters as the senior is 60.8 percent from the field. This lands him at second in the Landmark. He is trailed by Lesko's 43.6 shooting percentage which is eighth in the conference.
 
Juniata enters the Marts Center at 5-2 overall and place fifth in the Landmark with a 2-0 record in conference play. They carry a three-game win streak into this contest, most recently taking down Gwynedd Mercy by a score of 85-80.
 
A good portion of the Eagles' offensive production has come from Chase Husted, who averages the second-highest ppg in the conference with 21.9. His 64.8 shooting percentage from the field leads the Landmark. Tyler Lapetina and Gabe Guidinger round out Juniata's top scorers with 11.9 ppg and 5.9 ppg respectively.
 
Juniata currently sits at sixth in the conference for overall offense with an average of 69.3 ppg.

As a team, Juniata allows the second-lowest points-per-game in the Landmark as their opponents average just 63.0 ppg. This metric is thanks in large part to the play of Husted, who averages a team-high 8.1 rpg, good for fourth in the conference.
 
Guidinger leads the team in blocks with his 1.0 bpg average, while Mason Hardy is averaging a team-high 2.0 spg.
 
Women's Preview
The Colonels enter their showdown with the Eagles looking to bounce back from a close 57-52 defeat at the hands of Lycoming College. Wilkes currently holds a 4-4 overall record and 0-3 in conference play. They stand at eighth place in the Landmark standings.
 
Yamirelis Matos (Springfield, MA/Chicopee) leads the Colonels in scoring averaging 13.4 ppg, the sixth best in the conference. She is closely followed by Nadia Evanosky (Dallas, PA/Dallas), who averages 11.2 ppg. Senior Brenna Babcock (Sweet Valley, PA/Northwest Area) averages 7.9 ppg and leads the team with a .551 field goal percentage. Taylor Simpson (Dunmore, PA/Lawrenceville School) and Madison Robel (Middlesex, NJ/Middlesex) round out the top scorers, averaging 5.0 ppg and 4.6 ppg respectively. Shober tops the Landmark with 3.0 blocked shots per game; more than double the rate of her closest competition.
 
Madison Robel (Middlesex, NJ/Middlesex) sits seventh in the conference averaging a team-high 7.3 rebounds per game, followed by Matos with 6.3 rpg, and Shober with 5.0 rpg. Julia Marino (Washington Township, NJ/Washington Township) is fourth in the conference averaging 3.3 assists per game and has the best assist-to-turnover ratio in the Landmark at 2.2.
 
Matos takes top marks from beyond the arc with a .440 three point percentage. The team collectively averages 5.1 made three-pointers per game.
 
Wilkes places seventh in the Landmark for both offensive and defensive production. The Colonels average 57.8 ppg and allow an average of 61.5 ppg. Their defense claims the second-lowest opponent field goal percentage (.342) and averages 28.1 defensive rebounds per game. Wilkes stands alone in blocked shots, averaging a conference-high 5.38 bpg.
 
Juniata carries a 1-8 record into Saturday's contest. The Eagles are ninth in the Landmark standings, having gone 0-2 in conference play up to this point. They enter the Marts Center looking to right the ship after a 53-43 defeat to Lebanon Valley brought their losing streak to six games.
 
Juniata's scoring is driven by Haily Sherman, who averages 10.9 ppg. This figure puts her at fourteenth in the Landmark for scoring. The junior guard also carries with her a 36.9 field goal percentage and averages a team-high 1.7 steals per game.
 
Bri Bodtorf averages 10.4 ppg along with 1.6 apg. Olivia Berg and Laney Gerdich follow with 7.0 ppg and 6.0 ppg respectively. Gerdich also leads the team in rebounds with 6.6 rpg.
 
Rounding out the top Juniata scorers is Kynnedy Miller, who averages 5.8 ppg.
 
The Eagles rank tenth in scoring amongst Landmark teams with 50.9 ppg and sit at ninth place for defense, allowing 64.8 ppg.