Misericordia's Strong Second Half Drops Wilkes Men's Basketball
DALLAS, PA – The Colonels would have four players scoring in double digits, but the Wilkes University men's basketball team would fall to Misericordia University 71-64 on Wednesday night in Middle Atlantic Conference Freedom (MAC Freedom) action.
Wilkes would fall to 11-11 on the year and 6-7 in MAC Freedom play while Misericordia improved to 12-10 this season and 7-6 in conference action.
The first half started with the Cougars scoring the first four points in the first two minutes of the game, but the Colonels would go on a 7-0 run as Drake Marshall (Gainesville, VA/Patriot) would make a layup and three-pointer while Trent Fisher (Sellersville, PA/Pennridge) would get his own basket to give Wilkes a 7-4 lead. Nate Kreitzer would tie the game with a three of his own, keeping the game tied at 7-7 as there would be four scoreless minutes in the period.
Lucas Lesko (Northampton, PA/Northampton) would hit back-to-back threes as Wilkes would outscore Misericordia 14-9 and extend their lead to 21-16 with less than five minutes left in the half. After both teams had players hit two free throws, Marshall would make a layup under the basket and get fouled, converting on the and-one play to keep the lead for Wilkes. Both teams would hit threes in that span to make it 29-23. Fisher would make a layup with 26 seconds left on the clock, but Kevin Lazdowsky would make his shot from beyond the arc with five seconds left as the Cougars would cut the Colonels 31-26 heading into halftime.
The second half would start off hot for Wilkes, as Cayden Merrifield (Scranton, PA/West Scranton) and Lesko would hit three pointers to extend Wilkes' lead to 36-26 with less than two minutes into the period. The Cougars would go on an 8-2 run with Joseph Baldachino hit a three pointer and got fouled, making his free throw to make the game 38-34.
Marshall would go on the line and go 4-4, and Merrifield would make a three to Wilkes up 45-36. Misericordia would then go on a 8-0 run as the Cougars would force the Colonels to call a timeout as the game would be 45-44 with 12:47 left in the game. Derek Smith would give Misericordia the lead as he made his shot from beyond the arc and put them in front of Wilkes.
A Fisher layup and Merrifield going 1-1 on the line would have the game tied up, but Nate Kreitzer would get fouled after making another three pointer, making his and-one to get the Cougars ahead 53-51. Merrifield would make his layup, but Misericordia would finish strong as they would go 4-5 in three pointers before calling a timeout to put the Cougars up 65-59 with 3:21 left in the game. Wilkes would try to get back into the game as Zachary Gula (Walnutport, PA/Northampton) hit a late three and Merrifield hitting both free throws, but the Colonels would ultimately fall to Misericordia 71-64 in conference play.
Wilkes would shoot 34.3% from the field as they made 23-of-67 shots. The Colonels would have a 38.1 shooting percentage from beyond the arc, going 8-21 from beyond the arc and making 10-11 free throws. The Cougars shot 22-62 on the court, shooting 35.5% on the field, with 12 of their 38 shots from beyond the arc and converting 15-17 free throws.
Marshall would lead Wilkes in scoring as he had 18 points on the night as he also added seven rebounds and three assists in the game. Fisher would earn his fifth double-double on the year, his third in four games, as he had 16 points and 10 rebounds in the contest with two assists, two blocks, and a steal. Merrifield would follow behind with 14 points and tying a career-high seven assists, while Lesko would be one rebound short of a double-double as he recorded 11 points and nine rebounds.
Wilkes will return home to get momentum in conference play as they host Arcadia University on Saturday at 3:00 p.m. in MAC Freedom action.
