BALTIMORE, Md. – The Wilkes University men's basketball team's first game of 2024 was full of dramatic lead changes, however the Colonels ultimately fell to Goucher College 62-61 at the Decker Sports and Recreation Center in their Landmark contest on Wednesday night.
 
The loss dropped Wilkes' record to 10-2 overall and 3-2 in the Landmark. Goucher improved to 4-8 on the season while advancing to 2-3 in conference play.
 
Both teams started off the game with strong defensive displays, closely guarding their opponents and forcing hurried shots from deep.
 
After the Gophers went on an early 5-0 run, Trent Fisher (Sellersville, PA/Pennridge) got Wilkes on the board with a strong drive to the basket. The Colonels would tie the game up thanks to a Joey Zvorsky (New Cumberland, PA/Cedar Cliff) and-one bucket roughly five minutes into the first half.
 
Wilkes claimed their first lead of the night at 14:14 when Jack Argento (Hershey, PA/Hershey) sent a nifty bounce pass to Fisher, who finished the play with a layup to make it a 7-5 lead.
 
The Colonels and Gophers went back and forth, trading leads for several possessions. Goucher found an offensive rhythm with under ten minutes to go in the first half, rattling off nine unanswered points to take hold of a 17-12 lead.
 
Wilkes would storm back thanks in large part to the play of Cayden Merrifield (Scranton, PA/West Scranton), who delivered two crucial buckets to pull the Colonels within three points of Goucher with roughly five and a half minutes remaining in the first frame.
 
Lucas Lesko (Northampton, PA/Northampton) made his presence known with a huge bucket inside the paint that tied the game with 20 seconds left on the game clock. Argento was credited with his first assist of the evening on the play.
 
Goucher took the lead once again after a floater that beat the buzzer to put the hosts up 29-27 at the half.
 
After 20 minutes, the Colonels had shot 37.5 percent from the floor. 22 of the team's 27 points came inside the paint, with Fisher accounting for eight of those points. Merrifield knocked down the lone three-pointer for Wilkes in the first half. Both teams posted 19 rebounds and two steals.
 
Following a 5-0 Gopher run to start the second half, four points from Lesko and a Merrifield trey ball cut the Wilkes deficit to four. 
 
Matthew Davidheiser (Reading, PA/Exeter Township) collected his first points of the evening after being fouled on a driving layup. Davidheiser knocked down both shots at the line. Just over five minutes into the latter half of the game, the Colonels still trailed 41-36.
 
Fisher continued his big offensive performance with eight consecutive points, including a massive shot from beyond the arc that gave Wilkes their first lead of the second half. With just under 13 minutes to go in regulation, the Colonels possessed a 44-41 advantage.
 
The Gophers refused to go down easily, erasing a five point Wilkes lead and drawing the game even at 50-50 with less than eight minutes on the clock.
 
Merrifield drew a foul while attempting a layup and hit both free throws to even the game up yet again at 52. A few possessions later, the guard would drain a step-back corner three to put the Colonels up 57-52 with 5:16 remaining.
 
Wilkes put together a 9-0 run to claim their largest lead of the evening. The Colonels led 59-52 in the final stages of the second half.
 
Not to be outdone, the Gophers picked up their pace offensively and pulled themselves to within a single point of Wilkes. With 13 seconds to go, Goucher knocked down a jumper to recapture the lead 62-61.
 
After a late turnover gave Goucher the ball back, they successfully maintained possession throughout the final four seconds of play, claiming victory by a score of 62-61.
 
Fisher posted a game-high 22 points and 16 rebounds. The senior shot 50 percent from the floor and was a perfect 1-1 from three-point range. Merrifield knocked down three shots from deep and finished the evening with 15 points. As a team, Wilkes recorded 42 rebounds and shot 78.6 percent from the line.
 
Goucher enjoyed a balanced offensive attack with four players reaching double-digit point totals, including Alex Miller (14 pts), Jacob Morgan (12 pts), Darrell Morgan (10 pts) and Can Dalli (10 pts). Miller grabbed seven rebounds while Green and Dalli each hit a pair of threes.

The Colonels return home to the Marts Center for their first home game of 2024 when they host Elizabethtown College on Saturday, January 6. Tipoff against the Blue Jays is slated for 2:00 p.m.