WILKES-BARRE, Pa. - The Wilkes University men's and women's basketball teams continue their second round of Landmark Conference games tonight as they take on the Lycoming College Warriors.

The men's game is on the road and begins at 7 p.m., while the women's game is at the Marts Center and begins at the same time.

Men's: Live Stats | Live Video

Women's Live Stats | Live Video

Men's Preview

Wilkes enters this contest with an 11-6 record and 6-4 conference record after a thrilling 86-73 win over Moravian on Saturday. 

The Greyhounds lights out three-point shooting in the first half gave them a 41-38 lead at halftime, and a 49-44 lead with 16:47 remaining in regulation. However, the Colonels went on a 17-3 run to take an eight-point lead (61-52) with 10 minutes left, and shortly after went on another huge 17-5 run to put Moravian away for good.

Lucas Lesko (Northampton, PA/Northampton) had a phenomenal game with a season-high 34 points and eight rebounds on 13-20 shooting from the field and 6-6 shooting from the free throw line to lead the Colonels. He was named to D3Hoops.com's Team of the Week and earned Landmark Conference Athlete of the Week for his effort.

 Eli Becker (Palmyra, PA/Palmyra) also had a strong game with a double-double of 18 points and 11 rebounds, and Colin Ackerman (Manasquan, NJ/Wall Township) overcame a slow first half to finish with 16 points, five rebounds, six assists, and five steals.

Wilkes' defense once again played well enough to get the win. They won the rebounding battle 42-30, forced 18 turnovers, and limited the production of Moravian's big three. Marquis Ratcliff, the Landmark's leading scorer and shot blocker, finished with just 16 points, two rebounds, and one block on 6-16 shooting. Porter Kelly was held to 11 points and four rebounds on 4-13 shooting, but Chad Kratzer played well enough with 21 points, six rebounds, and two steals on 6-10 from the field and 7-7 from the free throw line.

This strong defensive showing from the past three games has helped the Colonels improve to third in the conference in scoring defense, second in opponent field goal percentage, and first in total rebounding. 

Meanwhile, the Warriors enter this game with a 4-13 record and 0-10 conference record after an 86-59 loss to Catholic on the road. Lycoming led 13-8 after five minutes of action, but Catholic went on a 29-7 run to lead by 17 (37-20) towards the end of the first half and they never looked back.

The Warriors boast three players that average over 10 pointers per game in Princeton Layton, Isaiah Valentine, and Hayden Pardoe.

Layton averages 15.4 points per game and 4.4 rebounds per game on 44.1% shooting. Valentine averages 12.5 points per game and 2.8 assists per game on 45.9% shooting. Lastly, Pardoe averages 12.3 points per game and a team-leading 6.7 rebounds per game on 37.1% shooting.

The Warriors rank ninth in the conference in scoring offense, eighth in scoring defense, ninth in team field goal percentage, eighth in opponent field goal percentage, 10th in team rebounding, and eighth in assist/turnover ratio.

The Colonels won their first matchup with the Warriors 74-67 on Nov. 19 without Lesko in the lineup. In that game, Daniel Santaniello (Roaring Brook Twp., PA/Scranton Prep) had a career-high 32 points on 10-15 shooting from the field, 4-7 shooting from three, and hit all eight of his free throws.

Women's Preview

The Colonels enter this game with a 4-13 record and 1-9 conference record after a 65-52 loss to Moravian on Saturday. The game was close throughout with the Greyhounds leading 29-28 at halftime and 47-41 going into the fourth quarter. In the fourth, Moravian pulled away by winning it 18-11.

Maliyah Warren (Phoenixville, PA/Phoenixville) was the team's leading scorer with 22 points and six rebounds on 7-22 shooting. However, Reagan Holden (Wilkes-Barre, PA/Wilkes-Barre Area) was Wilkes' second-leading scorer with just six points.

Despite a down game against the Greyhounds, Yamirelis Matos (Springfield, MA/Chicopee) remains fifth in the Landmark Conference in scoring with 12.5 points per game and sixth in steals with 1.9 per game. Warren's big game bumped her up to tied for eighth in the conference in scoring (11.6 points per game) and fourth in blocks (19).

On defense the Colonels have seen leaps in various statistics as they now rank sixth in scoring defense, third in opponent field goal percentage, sixth in opponent three-point percentage, fourth in blocks, and fifth in steals.

The Warriors enter this game with a 6-11 record and 2-8 conference record after a 97-45 loss to Catholic on Saturday. Lycoming only trailed by five after the first quarter (17-12), but were outscored 55-20 over the second and third quarter to put the game away.

In that game, Jocelyn McCracken led the team in scoring with 12 points and five rebounds on 5-9 shooting. Right behind her were Allison Fisher and Lena Walker who each had nine points on respectable shooting splits.

Fisher is the team's leader in scoring, rebounding, and assists with averages of 9.6 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 2.2 assists per game on 33.7% shooting. McCracken isn't far behind with averages of 8.2 points and 5.0 rebounds per game on 39.6% shooting, and Kami Abdo rounds out their top three with averages of 7.9 points, 2.6 rebounds, and 2.1 assists per game on 34.3% shooting.

The Warriors rank ninth in the Landmark in both scoring offense and defense, seventh in team field goal percentage and opponent field goal percentage, fifth in team three-point percentage, and seventh in assist/turnover ratio.

In their first matchup against each other, the Warriors cruised to a 71-40 win. Lycoming dominated the first quarter 18-3 and forced Wilkes to play catch-up the rest of the way, never seeing their lead go lower than 12 points.

While no Colonel scored more than eight points, Abdo, Fisher, and Ann-Marie McMurtrie all had strong games. Abdo led the way with 18 points, five rebounds, and seven assists on 5-11 shooting. Fisher had 16 points, seven rebounds, and six assists on 6-18 shooting, and McMurtrie finished with 11 points, nine rebounds, and three steals.