Wilkes Men's Basketball Wins Against Delaware Valley; Marshall Scores 1,000 Career Points
DOYLESTOWN, PA – Drake Marshall (Gainesville, VA/Patriot) hit a layup that pushed him over the 1,000 career points scoring milestone as the Wilkes University men's basketball team scored the last four points of the game to push themselves past Delaware Valley University in a 69-66 Middle Atlantic Conference Freedom (MAC Freedom) victory on Saturday afternoon action. Marshall becomes the 35th player in program history to score 1000 points in his career.
Wilkes will finish the regular season with a 13-12 overall record and end their conference run at 8-8. The Aggies would fall to 12-13 on the season and 7-9 in the MAC Freedom.
The first half saw Delaware Valley start off the game with a 7-2 run as they outpaced the Colonels to begin the final regular season contest. Trent Fisher (Sellersville, PA/Pennridge) and Marshall would both get Wilkes on the board and eventually tie the game before Jack Argento (Hershey, PA/Hershey) made his layup to give the Colonels an 11-9 lead in the period. The Aggies would eventually retake the lead behind six points from Goody Marc and Godly Marc.
Both teams would begin to trade the lead with one another as Fisher scored 17 of his 24 points in the first half. Delaware Valley would finish the period with two three pointers from Goddy Marc and Justin Savage before Fisher and Argento made both their layups as the Colonels headed into the half down 34-31.
The second half saw Wilkes score early with Lucas Lesko (Northampton, PA/Northampton) making free throws and a layup while Fisher continued his scoring as the Colonels recaptured the lead and made it a 46-38 game with just under six minutes into the period. Ewens Liziman and Justin Savage would hit their shots while Casey Caruso would drill one from beyond the arc to make it a one-point game. Marshall would try and keep Wilkes ahead as he scored four of his season-high 24 points on the night while Cayden Merrifield (Scranton, PA/West Scranton) added his own shot to make the score 54-45 halfway through the half.
Marshall would make a layup that would give Wilkes a 62-57 lead with 5:27 left in the game, also adding his name to the Colonels scorers as that shot put him at 1,000 points in his career and 35th for the program, with the last players achieving that milestone was Rob Pecorelli and Mark Mullins in 2020. The Aggies would not let Wilkes enjoy that moment as they would score the next 11 points and retake the lead 66-62 with 1:32 left in the game as Jordan Combs made a layup and two free throws to push Delaware Valley ahead.
Jason Eberhart (Lebanon, PA/Cedar Crest) would make a three pointer to get the game within one with under a minute left. After getting fouled and heading to the line, Marshall and Merrifield would make both their free throws to secure a 69-66 victory for Wilkes and finish their season with a win.
Marshall and Fisher both tied for lead scorer with 24 points apiece on the night. Fisher recorded a double-double as well, earning 18 rebounds on the night having a career-high six blocks as well. Marshall added 2 rebounds on the day as he shot 9-10 on the field, 1-2 from beyond the arc, and 5-7 on the free throw line. Argento had four assists on the night with Merrifield, Matthew Davidheiser (Reading, PA/Exeter Township), Eberhart having three apiece. Merrifield also led the team with eight assists and four steals.
The Colonels finish their MAC Freedom competition as they will be going to the Landmark next season for their conference games.
