SCRANTON, Pa. – Coming off of their first loss of the season, the Wilkes men's basketball team rebounded with a 79-67 victory over the Marywood University Pacers 79-67 at Insalaco Arena on Tuesday night.

Wilkes improves to 5-1 on the year while Marywood fall to 5-2.

No team had more than a four-point lead in the first half of play, but it was Marywood who held the advantage at the half 33-30 thanks to a three-point shot by the Pacers as time expired.

Another triple started the second half for the hosts, extending their lead to six, but the Colonels fought back with a 12-2 run that gave them a 42-40 lead, thanks to seven points from Cayden Merrifield (Scranton, PA/West Scranton).

That run sparked the Colonel offense, who held onto the lead for the remainder of the game. With seven and a half minutes left in regulation, a Jack Argento (Hershey, PA/Hershey) layup gave the Colonels their largest lead of the day, a 15-point cushion with the score 66-51. Down the stretch, discipline from the stripe by Merrifield and Joey Zvorsky (New Cumberland, PA/Cedar Cliff) helped seal the 79-67 victory as the duo hit seven of eight from the line in the last minute of play.

Merrifield led the way for Wilkes scoring 25 points, shooting 50% with nine rebounds and six assists. Lesko followed with a 23-point double-double, grabbing 12 boards and registering three blocks. Argento was the third Colonel in double-digit scoring with 10 points.

Michel Loftin was Marywood's top scorer with 13 points. Shilo Bevins led the team in rebounds from the bench with seven.

After the Thanksgiving holiday, the Colonels return to the Marts Center for their next contest, a return fixture against Keystone College on Saturday, November 30 at 1:00 p.m.