WILKES-BARRE – The Wilkes men's basketball team returned to action after the holiday break on Monday evening, falling in an electric overtime game at cross-town rivals King's College.

The Colonels fall to 8-2 on the year with the non-conference loss while King's improve to 4-4 overall.

The Colonels started the game hot from beyond the arc, draining six of their first seven buckets of the game to take an early 20-7 lead. Cayden Merrifield (Scranton, PA/West Scranton) opened the contest with three straight triples. The Monarchs then went on an 8-2 run to begin closing the gap, but two more triples from Merrifield and Lucas Lesko (Northampton, PA/Northampton) pushed the Colonels lead to 28-15 halfway through the first.

King's found their stride period as the Colonels ran into foul trouble, capitalizing with a 17-6 run to close the half only behind by one possession, 34-32. The hosts were 6-for-6 from the stripe in the final two minutes of the frame.

The hosts took their first lead of the day as they opened the second half with an 11-3 run to go ahead 43-37 in the first five minutes of the period. The Monarchs controlled most of the second half, extending their lead to 71-60 with under five minutes to play, before a seven-point Colonel run brought the lead down to four, thanks to four points from Daniel Santaniello (Roaring Brook Twp., PA/Scranton Prep) with three and a half minutes remaining.

Down 76-70 with 1:08 left to play, Lesko drained a three-point shot to bring Wilkes within one possession. A free throw from Merrifield and a layup from Joey Zvorsky (New Cumberland, PA/Cedar Cliff) cut the lead to two, and with eight seconds left it was Merrifield from the line who tied the game with two free throws. A King's turnover on the other end of the court sent the game to overtime tied at 78.

In the bonus period, Wilkes took a narrow lead 81-80 thanks to free throws by Zvorsky and Santaniello, and another Zvorsky layup with 2:30 to play gave the Colonels another one-point lead after two Monarch free throws 83-82. A dunk by the hosts to reclaim the lead, along with an 11-8 scoring run, helped the Monarchs to victory in overtime.

Merrifield led the Colonels with a season-high 30 points going 50% from beyond the arc with six threes, also a season-high. Lesko was also in double-digit scoring with 21 points, while Santaniello added a career-high 17 points off the bench. Zvorsky was the fourth Colonel in double-digit scoring with 12. Zvorsky and Jack Argento (Hershey, PA/Hershey) shared the team lead in rebounds with nine each, while Argento led the team with five assists.

Chris Patton led King's with 32 points and eight rebounds, while Garrett Burys had a team-high four assists.

The Colonels take to the court again in the new year, as they close out their non-conference schedule at Muhlenberg College on Saturday, January 4. Tip-off is scheduled for 2:00 p.m.