WILKES-BARRE – With less than two weeks remaining in the regular season, the Wilkes University men's and women's basketball teams get set to take on Drew University for a pair of significant Landmark contests on Wednesday. The men visit Edison, N.J. for a 7:00 p.m. tip-off while the women host the Rangers at the same time for their National Girls and Women in Sports Day game.
 
Men's: Live Stats | Live Video
Women's: Live Stats | Live Video | Live Audio
 
Men's Preview
The Colonels took down Susquehanna University in convincing fashion in their last outing on Saturday, defeating the River Hawks 92-58. This moved them to 16-5 overall and 9-5 in Landmark Conference play, where they currently hold the tiebreaker over Juniata for fourth place thanks to the series sweep of Susquehanna.
 
Lucas Lesko (Northampton, PA/Northampton) leads the team in scoring averaging 15.4 points per game, the fifth-best mark in the Landmark Conference. Trent Fisher (Sellersville, PA/Pennridge) and Cayden Merrifield (Scranton, PA/West Scranton) are the other two Colonels averaging double-digits, averaging 14.6 and 14.0 ppg respectively, putting the duo seventh and ninth in the conference.
 
Fisher dominates the stat sheet for the Colonels, leading the team in rebounds (9.4 rpg, second in the conference), assists (3.4 apg, sixth in the conference), and field goal percentage (.582, second in the conference).
 
The Colonel defense continues to be one of the premier units in the Landmark, led by Lesko and Fisher with 1.4 and 1.2 blocks per game respectively, the second and fourth-best marks in the Landmark. Joey Zvorsky (New Cumberland, PA/Cedar Cliff) leads the team with 1.7 steals per game.
 
As a unit, the defense ranks first in the conference for defensive efficiency (64.1 ppg allowed), opponent three-point field goal percentage (.310) and second in opponent field goal percentage (.400).

The team sits second in field goal percentage (.461), fourth in offensive efficiency (74.7 ppg), and seventh in three-point field goal percentage (.325).
 
The Rangers enter this game at 17-4 overall and 10-4 in Landmark play after falling to Juniata 85-81 on Saturday.
 
Pat Higgins leads the team in scoring averaging 16.2 ppg, which would rank fourth in the conference if he met the minimum number of games required to place. Higgins is followed by Andrew Turco, who averages 14.6 ppg and boasts a conference-high .462 three-point percentage.
 
David Musial leads the team in rebounds (8.7 rpg, fourth-best in the conference) as well as field goal percentage, shooting .546 from the floor. Papie Roberts is the team's top distributor, averaging 2.8 assists per game.
 
The Colonels' strong three-point defense will be put to the test against a fiery Drew team that holds the conference's top spot in offensive efficiency (87.5 ppg) and shoots .359 from behind the arc (third in the conference). They also sit fifth in field goal percentage (.441).
 
The Rangers rank tenth in defensive efficiency (78.1 ppg allowed), ninth in opponent field goal percentage (.485) and third in opponent three-point field goal percentage (.320).
 
Women's Preview
The Colonels enter Wednesday's contest looking to bounce back from their 81-59 defeat at the hands of Susquehanna on Saturday. The team currently stands at 8-13 on the season and 4-10 in Landmark play. Their record puts them at eighth place in the conference.
 
Yamirelis Matos (Springfield, MA/Chicopee) leads the Colonels in scoring averaging 13.3 ppg, the sixth-best in the conference. Brenna Babcock (Sweet Valley, PA/Northwest Area) comes into the Drew matchup averaging 8.3 ppg, followed closely by Nadia Evanosky (Dallas, PA/Dallas) (8.0 ppg). Erin Shober (Reading, PA/Wilson) (7.4 ppg), and Taylor Simpson (Dunmore, PA/Lawrenceville School) (5.1 ppg) round out the team's top five scorers.
 
Matos also leads the team in rebounds averaging 6.1 rpg, while Shober averages 5.9 rpg.
 
Shober continues to be a dominant defensive force under the hoop for the Colonels, leading the team and the conference with 67 blocks, good for sixth place in the nation. Her 3.2 blocks per game average puts her eighth in the nation and top of the conference. Matos leads the team in steals averaging 2.6 per game, the fourth-best mark in the conference.
 
Julia Marino (Washington Township, NJ/Washington Township) has been the best ball distributor for the Colonels, leading the team and taking a share of third place in the conference with 3.0 assists per game.
 
Babcock has been one of the Colonels' most consistent shooters, holding a team-best .489 field goal percentage. Meanwhile, Matos leads the team from beyond the arc with a .318 three-point percentage.
 
The Colonel defense remains one of the stronger groups in the conference, boasting the best opponent three-point field goal percentage (.244), the fourth-best opponent field goal percentage (.341), and most blocks (5.48 bpg). They also have the sixth-most efficient defense in the conference, allowing 63.4 ppg.
 
On offense, Wilkes sits six in the conference in field goal percentage (.356) and three-point field goal percentage (.252), and seventh in scoring efficiency (55.8 ppg).
 
Drew makes the trip to the Marts Center coming off of a 66-47 win at Juniata on Saturday, boosting their record to 9-12 overall and an even 7-7 in Landmark play.
 
Jamie Struble dominates the stat sheet for the Rangers, leading the team in scoring (11.5 ppg), field goal percentage (.405), rebounding (7.0 rpg) and steals (2.0 spg).
 
Amy Rachilla leads the team in assists averaging 2.3 apg, and Maddie Beyer leads the team from three with a .375 three-point percentage.
 
The team ranks eighth in field goal percentage (.338) and three-point percentage (.269) and sixth in offensive efficiency (58.0 ppg). They rank fifth in defensive efficiency (62.1 ppg allowed), seventh in opponent field goal percentage (.379), and eighth in opponent three-point percentage (.300).