WILKES-BARRE – In front of a raucous Marts Center crowd, the Wilkes University men's basketball team defeated the No. 6 seeded University of Scranton Royals Tuesday night 59-43 to advance to the Landmark Conference semifinals for the second consecutive year.

Wilkes improves to 20-6 on the year with the win, marking the first 20-win season at Wilkes for head coach Izzi Metz and the first for the Colonels since the 2000-01 season where they reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

The Colonels took the early 7-2 lead over the first few minutes but were unable to find an offensive rhythm in the first half, turning the ball over ten times in the period. The Royals took their first lead of the day at 8-7 and pulled ahead to an eight-point lead with less than four minutes left in the half 25-17. Wilkes fought back to cut the deficit to one possession at the break, outscoring Scranton 8-3 to go into the half down 28-25. Daniel Santaniello (Roaring Brook Twp., PA/Scranton Prep) led the team over the small run with three points.

The Colonel defense took control to start the second half, holding the Royals without a single point for the first eight minutes. On the other end of the floor, the Colonels scored 11 unanswered to take a 36-28 lead. Cayden Merrifield (Scranton, PA/West Scranton) led the team over the opening stretch with five points. The hosts wouldn't relinquish their lead from there, extending the margin to double-digits and taking the victory to advance in the Landmark playoffs.

Merrifield led the Colonels with 15 points, joined in double-digit scoring by Lucas Lesko (Northampton, PA/Northampton) and Santaniello with 12 each. Lesko led the team with 10 rebounds to complete his sixth double-double of the season. Santaniello shared a piece of the team-high in assists with three, joined by Jack Argento (Hershey, PA/Hershey) and Joey Zvorsky (New Cumberland, PA/Cedar Cliff).

The Colonels now travel to Washington, D.C. on Thursday, February 27 for a rematch of last season's semifinal at Catholic University. Tip-off against the Cardinals is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.