WILKES-BARRE – Lucas Lesko's (Northampton, PA/Northampton) 30-point performance lifted the Colonels to a massive Landmark Conference win over Moravian 91-66 on Wednesday night, snapping a two-game losing streak.

The Colonels improve to 12-4 overall and 6-3 in Landmark play, while Moravian fall to 11-5 with a 6-3 record in conference play.

Moravian took control in the early part of the game, taking a 12-6 lead with 14:32 left in the first half. A 10-4 run over the next four and a half minutes of game time saw the Colonels tie it up at 16. Mason Fedor (Clarks Summit, PA/Abington Heights) led the team with four points over the stretch.

Wilkes took the lead at 6:33 after a six-point swing from Cayden Merrifield (Scranton, PA/West Scranton) and Lesko gave the Colonels their first lead in 10 minutes, up 22-21. A triple from Lesko and a layup from Merrifield on the fast break brought the lead up to 27-23, but the Greyhounds were able to tie the game at 27 with just under five minutes to play.

The visitors took the lead from Wilkes after a 5-4 run to make it a 32-31 game, but the Colonels finished the half strong with a 7-0 run to take a 39-32 lead into halftime.

Wilkes carried that momentum into the second half, opening the period with an 11-4 run to open their lead to 14 points. Moravian would only get the gap as close as eight points, with the score 51-43 and just under 15 minutes to play, but the Colonels cruised to a 20-point cushion over the next 10 minutes, as head coach Izzi Metz cleared the bench with two minutes remaining as the Colonels raced out to the 91-66 win.

Wilkes reached the 90-point threshold for the fifth time this season, behind Lesko's fourth 30+ point game of the season. The Junior shot 12-18 from the field and 4-7 from three, leading the team on the boards as well with nine rebounds. Merrifield (21), Colin Ackerman (Manasquan, NJ/Wall Township) (12) and Jack Argento (Hershey, PA/Hershey) (10) were the other Colonels in double-digit scoring. Merrifield led the team with nine assists.

Porter Kelly led Moravian with 14 points and three assists. Michael Leonardo led in rebounds with six.

Wilkes now hits the road for a Landmark Conference clash at Catholic University on Saturday, January 25 at 4:00 p.m. The last time these two teams met, the Cardinals defeated Wilkes 78-72 at the Marts Center.

At halftime, Wilkes Athletics celebrated the achievements of former head coach Jerry Rickrode and star player Dave Januzzi for their inductions into the MAC Hall of Fame.