MADISON, N.J. – After setting a new season-high in points against Susquehanna on Saturday, the Wilkes men's basketball team one-up themselves with a career night from Cayden Merrifield (Scranton, PA/West Scranton) as the Colonels beat Drew University on the road Wednesday night 97-89.

The win moves the Colonels to 17-5 on the season and 10-5 in Landmark play, while the Rangers fall to the same 17-5 overall, 10-5 conference record now tied for third place in the conference standings with three games left to play.

Early three pointers from Joey Zvorsky (New Cumberland, PA/Cedar Cliff) and Merrifield gave the Colonels an early 10-5 lead, but the Rangers potent three-point offense wasn't to be outdone as they took a 16-14 lead on two three pointers of their own.

Both teams remained even throughout the majority of the first half, deadlocked at 21 with just over ten minutes to play in the half. The Ranger offense hit a stride through the rest of the frame, outscoring the Colonels 25-19 punctuated by a trio of shots from beyond the arc as the Colonels attacked the paint and kept the Rangers close with the score 46-40 going into halftime. Merrifield and Trent Fisher (Sellersville, PA/Pennridge) went into the break both over double-digit scoring 14 and 10 respectively.

Merrifield opened the second half on fire scoring the Colonels first seven points, but the Rangers still held a narrow lead 51-47. A fast break triple from the junior guard set up Fisher to equalize the game at 54 with just under 15 minutes to play. Drew maintained the lead however, with three consecutive makes from three gave the Rangers a 9-3 run that grew their lead to 63-57.

Lucas Lesko (Northampton, PA/Northampton) came alive to give the Colonels the lead on a 7-0 run, scoring five points before Drew's Josh Kline tied it up again at 65 with a layup of his own. The Colonel offense found their stride from this point on, outscoring the Rangers 12-3 to establish the largest lead of the game by either team 77-68 before taking a timeout with 4:51 to play.

The Colonels refused to lose the lead for the rest of the game aided by surgical precision from the foul line, going 13-14 for the rest of the game as they avenged their home loss against the Rangers from earlier in the year with an emphatic 97-89 victory.

Merrifield shined for the Colonels with not only team-highs, but career-highs in points (36) and assists (11). His 36 points are the twelfth-most in a single game in program history, with his assists the fourth-most in a single game. The junior was also a perfect 3-3 from three-point range, and 15-15 from the free throw line, the second most free throws made in a single game in program history.

Fisher led the Colonels with 17 rebounds, the eleventh-most in a single game in school history.

Fisher (22), Lesko (16), and Zvorsky (12) were the other three players to score double-digits, with Jack Argento (Hershey, PA/Hershey) adding nine off the bench on 7-8 free throw shooting.

Pat Higgins led the Rangers with 22 points. Kline led in assists with five while Peso Crump grabbed the most boards with nine.

With their win streak now at three games, the Colonels prepare for their final road game of the year on Saturday, February 10 as they travel to take on Elizabethtown at 2:00 p.m.