WILKES-BARRE – The Wilkes men's basketball team were bested in a Landmark Conference thriller at the Marts Center on Saturday afternoon, dropping a close contest against No. 20 ranked Catholic University 85-78.

Wilkes drop to 13-4 overall and 6-4 in conference play, while Catholic improve to 15-2 overall and 9-1 in conference play.

The Colonels opened the game with a 6-3 run over the first five minutes, and the two teams dueled fiercely to a 12-12 deadlock with 12:45 left in the half. Lucas Lesko (Northampton, PA/Northampton) provided the early offense for Wilkes, contributing eight of those points. Catholic took the lead from there and fought off multiple Colonel charges as they outscored the Colonels 11-8 to take a 23-20 lead with 8:45 to play in the first.

A Lesko triple equalized for the Colonels at 23 before Catholic stretched the gap once again to 31-25 with five minutes to go. Wilkes equalized a minute later at 31 before taking the lead on two successful free throws from Cayden Merrifield (Scranton, PA/West Scranton). Wilkes then stretched a lead of their own and held off a Cardinal run late to take a 38-37 lead into halftime.

Lesko and Merrifield hit a jumper and a three to set the tone for the Colonel offense at the start of the second half and take a 43-39 lead, but the Cardinals soon equalized at 43 and took the lead on a three from Sean Neylon. Wilkes once again clawed back a lead down five on a layup from Jack Argento (Hershey, PA/Hershey), making it 52-50 in favor of the Colonels with 12:32 to play.

Catholic's Dan Buckley hit a free throw that started a 17-5 run that gave the Cardinals a comfortable 67-57 lead with five minutes remaining. During the run, Trent Fisher (Sellersville, PA/Pennridge) received two technical fouls and was ejected from the game. Wilkes fought hard for the remainder of the contest, but Catholic maintained their lead and took an 85-78 win on the road.

Lesko led the Colonels with 25 points, going 8-16 from the field and 4-8 from three on the day. The sophomore also added an impressive five blocks and seven rebounds on his stat sheet. Fisher led the Colonels with 8 rebounds and tied Merrifield for the team lead in assists with three each. Merrifield had 16 points of his own, while Argento provided 17 points off the bench.

Hafemeister scored 38 points to lead Catholic, while Enzo Sechi led with nine rebounds and Brian Herbert led with three assists.

The Colonels next welcome Lycoming College to the Marts Center on Wednesday, January 24 for a 7:00 p.m. tip-off against the Warriors.