WILKES-BARRE, Pa. - Despite a furious second half rally, the Wilkes University men's basketball team lost to the Susquehanna University River Hawks 90-86 Wednesday night at the Marts Center.

The loss drops the Colonels to 12-8 (7-6 Landmark) on the season, while the River Hawks improve to 10-10 (6-7 Landmark).

Susquehanna's offense came out on fire to start the game, hitting their first six shots to jump out to an early 15-8 lead at the 15:55 mark. They got that lead up to 10 (26-16) with 12:21 to go after a three-point play by Billy Anderson as the River Hawks were shooting 10-12 from the field.

That forced the Colonels to play catch-up for the rest of the first half, but they did manage to cut the deficit down to two points (35-33) after a personal 7-0 run by Lucas Lesko (Northampton, PA/Northampton) with under five minutes left. 

However, Susquehanna continued to make it rain from downtown. KJ Carson hit all four of his threes in the first half, and the River Hawks as a team shot 66.7% (8-12) from beyond the arc. That helped the visitors take a 49-40 lead into halftime.

A Brandon Lavitt jumper, followed by a Carson layup to start the second half put the River Hawks on top 53-40, but Jack Argento (Hershey, PA/Hershey) made sure the Colonels stayed in the game.

The senior guard rallied the team with tough layups, free throws, and heads-up defensive plays to make it a four-point game (65-61), and then a Lesko three got Wilkes within a single point with 10:10 remaining.

However, Susquehanna responded with an 11-0 run with Carson and Mario Castro Sanchez hitting three-straight from beyond the arc to put the visitors up 76-64.

All hope seemed lost for Wilkes until Colin Ackerman (Manasquan, NJ/Wall Township) took over down the homestretch. He scored 10 points during a pivotal 19-7 run to miraculously tie the game 83-83 with 1:45 left. On the next possession, Lavitt hit a jumper to put the River Hawks back on top, and Ackerman fouled out on the next possession after Eli Becker (Palmyra, PA/Palmyra) missed a potential go-ahead three.

From there, Susquehanna hit their free throws to close out the win. Ackerman finished the game with 27 points, four rebounds, and four assists for Wilkes on 9-16 shooting from the field, while going 8-10 from the free throw line. Lesko scored 23 points and grabbed six rebounds on 7-15 shooting. 

However, the River Hawks had four players score in double figures with Carson leading the charge with 20 points on 7-10 shooting, including 5-5 from downtown. They also got 27 points from the bench and shot 61.9% from three all game, while the Colonel bench scored just eight points and shot just 33.3% from downtown as a team.

Wilkes returns to the court on Saturday, Feb. 7 at 2 p.m. for a road matchup against the Juniata College Eagles.