HUNTINGDON, Pa. – The Wilkes University men's basketball team picked up a big win in Landmark Conference action Saturday afternoon, defeating Juniata College 91-79 at Memorial Gymnasium.

Wilkes improves to 12-8 on the year with a 7-6 mark in conference play, while Juniata falls to 8-12 overall and a 5-8 record against Landmark opponents.

Colin Ackerman (Manasquan, NJ/Wall Township) got the day started draining a three to give Wilkes the first points of the game, but a layup and three straight treys gave Juniata an early 11-6 lead in the opening minutes of the game. The hosts then extended that lead to as many as 11 points, up 22-11, but a 10-points swing by the Colonels brought them within one point.

The Eagles pushed the lead back out to 32-26 with 6:33 remaining in the first half before Wilkes' defense put the clamps on and held them to just two field goals for the remainder of the period. On the other end of the court, the Colonels poured on 14 points to take a 46-36 lead into halftime. Eli Becker (Palmyra, PA/Palmyra) led the way during the run with six points.

A make from beyond the arc by Jack Argento (Hershey, PA/Hershey) got the Wilkes scoring started early and the Colonels controlled the game from there, maintaining a double-digit advantage throughout the majority of the second half. 15 points by Argento in the final 20 minutes helped the Colonels to the 91-76 victory, picking up just their second road win in conference play this season.

Lucas Lesko (Northampton, PA/Northampton) led the Colonels across the box score with 24 points, six rebounds, and six assists. Ackerman also broke the 20-point threshold, scoring 21 on 8-14 shooting. Argento (17), Becker (16), and Santaniello (11) all reached double-digit scoring on the day. As a unit, the Colonels shot 62.5% from the field and 58.3% from beyond the arc as they tied their second-highest scoring total of the season.

Ty Kocak led all players with 28 points and led the Eagles with five assists. Jayden Bilger led all players with seven assists on the day.

Wilkes returns to action on Wednesday, February 11^th as they host the Rangers of Drew University at the Marts Center for a 7:00 p.m. contest.