WILKES-BARRE – The Wilkes University men's basketball team closed their three-game homestand Saturday afternoon, defeating Elizabethtown College 87-69 at the Marts Center.

Wilkes improves to 8-5 overall and 3-3 in Landmark play, while Etown falls to 10-3 overall and 3-3 in conference play.

Down 11-12 early in the first half, a trey from Elizabethtown's Woody Machado put the visitors on top, kick-starting a 12-6 run to extend the lead to 23-18 halfway through the first. The Colonels responded in emphatic fashion, scoring 19 unanswered points to take a 37-18 lead. Back-to-back threes from Colin Ackerman (Manasquan, NJ/Wall Township) tied the game at 23 and put the Colonels ahead during the run.

Wilkes held the double-digit lead going into the break ahead 45-31, as Daniel Santaniello (Roaring Brook Twp., PA/Scranton Prep) hit a buzzer-beater triple to put an exclamation point on the half.

The Blue Jays came out of the break cutting through the lead, bringing themselves back within single-digits multiple times as they outscored the Colonels 15-10 over the first six minutes of the half. The Colonels wouldn't let that happen again, continuing the offensive onslaught to push their lead to as much as 23 points with 3:45 remaining. Izzi Metz then emptied the bench as Wilkes cruised to the 87-69 victory.

Wilkes had two scorers over 20 points, with Lesko dropping 21 and Ackerman netting a career-high 20. Combined, the senior duo shot over 50% from the field, 7-11 from beyond the arc, and 8-9 from the charity stripe. Eli Becker (Palmyra, PA/Palmyra) (18) and Jack Argento (Hershey, PA/Hershey) (17) also hit double-digit scoring for the Colonels. Lesko led the team with nine rebounds, followed by Becker with eight. Ackerman matched his season-high with seven assists on the afternoon, a team-high.

Machado led Elizabethtown with 24 points and five rebounds, while EJ Finney had a team-high three assists. The Colonel defense held top-scorer Austin Finarelli to just 11 points on the day.

Wilkes hits the road for their next contest, a matchup at Drew University on Wednesday, January 14^th at 7:00 p.m.