WILKES-BARRE – The Wilkes University men's basketball team dominated in their senior night game against cross-town rival King's College to earn a 100-57 Middle Atlantic Conference Freedom (MAC Freedom) win against the Monarchs on Tuesday night.
 
The Colonels improve to 12-12 overall and 7-8 in the MAC Freedom. The Monarchs fall to 9-15 overall and 4-12 in conference play.
 
Less than halfway through the first half, the Colonels were able to gain a 27-3 lead over the Monarchs. Eight of those points came from Drake Marshall (Gainesville, VA/Patriot) and six of them came from Cayden Merrifield (Scranton, PA/West Scranton). Wilkes was able to go on a 16 point run started by a layup from Trent Fisher (Sellersville, PA/Pennridge).
 
Wilkes ended the half leading King's 48-28. Marshall led the Colonels in points in the half with 12 and was followed by Fisher and Nickerson DeMelfi (Newbury Park, CA/Newbury Park) with eight each. The Colonels had a field goal percentage (FG%) of 57.6% in the first half, compared to the Monarchs' FG% of 29.0%. Wilkes also shot 46.7% on three-pointers. Wilkes had 21 rebounds in the first half, with five different Colonels each earning three.
 
The Colonels did not let up at all in the second half, drilling home a 100-57 victory over the Monarchs. Wilkes was able to earn two nine-point runs in the second half, the first one got rolling after a layup from Matthew Davidheiser (Reading, PA/Exeter Township) and the second was kicked off by two free throws from Jack Argento (Hershey, PA/Hershey).
 
11 of the Colonels' 52 points in the second half came from DeMelfi who scored a total of 19 points in the game, tying his career high points in a single game. Marshall scored 10 points in the half for Wilkes, and Lucas Lesko (Northampton, PA/Northampton) earned seven. Fisher tallied seven rebounds in the second half, followed by Marshall and Colin Ackerman (Manasquan, NJ/Wall Township) each with three.
 
Marshall had the most points in the game for the Colonels with 22, followed by DeMelfi with 19 and Lesko and Fisher each with 12. Fisher had 10 rebounds in the game, earning a double-double. Marshall and Ackerman each had six. Fisher had five assists in the game for Wilkes, followed by Ackerman with four and Jason Eberhart (Lebanon, PA/Cedar Crest) with three.
 
Wilkes had a FG% of 55.7% in the game and shot a three-point percentage (3P%) of 44.4%, while King's had a FG% of 34.5% and 3P% of 20.0%. The Colonels had a total of 46 rebounds in the game and the Monarchs had a total of 30.
 
The Wilkes men's basketball team returns to action on Saturday when they travel to Doylestown, Pa. to take on Delaware Valley University at 3:00 p.m. to finish out the regular season.