WILKES-BARRE, Pa. - The No. 4 Wilkes University men's basketball team look to cap off the Landmark Conference Tournament with a trophy in hand as they host the championship game this Saturday night against the No. 6 Susquehanna University River Hawks.
Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.
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Tickets
Adults: $11
Minors (10-17): $6
Children (Under 10): Free
Landmark students/faculty: Free with valid ID
The Colonels got to this point by knocking off the top-seeded Catholic 79-70 Thursday night, while the River Hawks got here by upsetting No. 2 Drew 93-87 on the same day.
Wilkes jumped out to an early 12-7 lead after eight minutes of action against the Landmark's best, but Catholic retook the lead 15-14 with 9:25 left in the first half and pushed their lead to 36-32 by halftime.
In the second half, the Colonels relied on Lucas Lesko (Northampton, PA/Northampton), Jack Argento (Hershey, PA/Hershey), and Eli Becker (Palmyra, PA/Palmyra) to get them over the edge. Those three combined for 41 points over the final 14:27 of game time, and the team outscored the Cardinals 47-34 in the second half to secure the win.
Lesko was the driving force for Wilkes with 27 points, four rebounds, five assists, and two blocks on 10-24 from the field. Argento's huge second half gave him 18 points and eight rebounds on 8-12 shooting, and helped him surpass 1,000 points for his career. Lastly, Becker and Daniel Santaniello (Roaring Brook Twp., PA/Scranton Prep) chipped in with 17 points and 15 points, respectively.
On defense, the Colonels held the Cardinals to just 37.3% from the field and 26.1% (6-23) from downtown. They also slowed down Catholic's two leading scorers, CJ Ruoff and Brian Herbert. Both scored 16 points but on a combined 32.2% from the field.
Throughout the tournament, Lesko and Santaniello have put together some of their best games of the season at the perfect time. Lesko has averaged 25.0 points, 7.0 rebounds, 4.0 assists, and 2.0 blocks per game on 48.8% from the field. Santaniello has caught fire by averaging 17.0 points per game on 62.5% from both the field and from beyond the arc.
Meanwhile, Susquehanna's win over Drew was a bit more simple. The River Hawks quickly took a 13-point lead (21-8) with 12:02 left in the first half and took a 46-40 lead into halftime. Despite some late rallies from Drew, Susquehanna never let them take the lead in the second half, and a 12-2 run late in the game secured a River Hawk win.
Mario Castro Sanchez led all Susquehanna starters in scoring with 19 points on 6-14 from the field and 4-6 from downtown, but they got a surprise boost from bench guard Mikey Cumbo. Cumbo played 21 minutes and scored 24 points on 5-6 shooting, including 13-13 from the free throw line.
Castro Sanchez has averaged 20.0 points and 4.0 rebounds per game throughout the tournament to lead the River Hawks, and the team also got a huge 27-point, nine-rebound, three-assist game on 10-12 shooting from Billy Anderson in their first round win over Scranton.
Susquehanna won both games in the regular season against Wilkes. The two teams first met in Selinsgrove on Dec. 3 and the River Hawks won 75-72 behind 25 points, four rebounds, and four assists from Castro Sanchez and 22 points from the bench. In the rematch on Feb. 4 in Wilkes-Barre, Susquehanna shot 57.1% from the field and 61.9% (13-21) from three in a 90-86 win, despite a career-high 27 points from Colin Ackerman (Manasquan, NJ/Wall Township).
The winner of this game will advance to the NCAA Tournament as the automatic qualifier by winning the conference. A win for Wilkes would give them their first conference championship since 2001 when they won the MAC Freedom. As for Susquehanna, a win would give them their third Landmark Conference Championship, and their first since 2022.
