WILKES-BARRE – The Wilkes men's basketball team gifted their fans a Valentine's Day win on Wednesday night, defeating Moravian University 72-57 in their Landmark matchup inside the Marts Center.
 
The Colonels improved their overall record to 18-6 while moving to 11-6 in conference play. With the win, Wilkes also guaranteed they will host a playoff game as either the three or four-seed.  The Greyhounds fell to 9-15 on the season and 5-12 in the Landmark.
 
The evening kicked off with a pregame ceremony honoring senior forward Trent Fisher (Sellersville, PA/Pennridge) for collecting his one thousandth point.
 
Matthew Davidheiser (Reading, PA/Exeter Township) got the Colonels on the board with a far-side corner three to quickly overcome an early 2-0 lead for Moravian.
 
After a brief Greyhound run, Fisher regained a one-point advantage for Wilkes with an and-one bucket inside the paint. On the ensuing possession, he tacked on a layup to extend the 9-0 run and put the Colonels up by a score of 12-8.
 
Moravian continued to apply pressure on the Wilkes defense and held a one-point lead with nine minutes to go in the first half. Jason Eberhart (Lebanon, PA/Cedar Crest) got his jumper to fall, switching the lead into the hands of the Colonels.
 
A quick 5-0 run by the Greyhounds resulted in yet another lead change, putting the visitors ahead 26-23. Coming out of a Wilkes timeout, Lucas Lesko (Northampton, PA/Northampton) found Cayden Merrifield (Scranton, PA/West Scranton) with a beautiful coast-to-coast pass. Merrifield cashed in on the easy layup and cut the deficit to a single point.
 
Joey Zvorsky (New Cumberland, PA/Cedar Cliff) nailed a trey on his first shot of the evening to give the Blue and Gold a 28-26 lead with under four minutes remaining in the half. Merrifield picked up his fourth assist of the game on the play.
 
A Lesko bank shot fell through the twine to bring the Colonel run up to 11 consecutive points.
 
Merrifield's fourth field goal proved to be the final points of the first frame, sending Wilkes into halftime with a 36-30 lead. The Colonels shot 53.6 percent from the floor compared to the Greyhounds' even 40 percent. Merrifield led the team with eight points through 20 minutes, while Zvorsky and Fisher both hauled in four rebounds.
 
Lesko jump-started the scoring in the second half with a shot from beyond the arc to extend the Wilkes advantage to nine.
 
Roughly six minutes into the half, Zvorsky electrified the Wilkes student section when he dove to the floor to retrieve a loose ball. The senior dished a short pass to a wide open Fisher, who effortlessly sank his shot to build the lead to 12
 
After escaping a trap off a Wilkes inbound, the team efficiently moved the ball around the court to Merrifield, who nailed a shot from deep. The Colonels possessed a comfortable 56-38 lead with just under 10 minutes to go in regulation.
 
Davidheiser remained perfect from behind the arc after knocking down his second trey of the night.
 
As the second half ticked down, Wilkes continued to reap the benefits of their aggressive rebounding. The hosts saw 12 of their points come second-chance opportunities with less than three minutes left on the game clock.
 
The teams traded points up to the final buzzer, however Wilkes came away with a decisive 72-57 victory.
 
Lesko led the team in scoring with 17 points. The sophomore also went a perfect 4-4 from the line. Fisher followed with a 14-point, 10-rebound double-double while Merrifield shot an impressive 60 percent from the floor. Davidheiser stayed hot from behind the arc, sinking both of his three-point attempts on the night.
 
The Greyhounds saw 18 of their points come from Marquis Ratcliff, who also grabbed a team-high 10 boards. Alex Dietz shot 75 percent from deep while collecting two steals along with Taylor Perlmutter.
 
The Colonels return to the hardwood on Saturday, February 17 when they host Goucher College for their Senior Day game. Tip-off against the Gophers is set for 2:00 p.m.