(Carlisle, Pa.) – The Dickinson College men's basketball team advanced to the championship game of the Days Inn Tip-Off Tournament with a 68-65 win over Wilkes University. They will face Catholic University at 3:30 pm on Saturday. Catholic rolled to a 100-61 win over Penn State Harrisburg in the other first round match-up.
Wilkes took an early lead but the Devils answered and pulled in front, 20-10, midway through the first half. The went up by 12 on a three-pointer from senior Chris Heine (Spring Lake, N.J./St. Rose) at the 5:23 mark. The Colonels battled back to cut deficit to, 37-30, at the break.
Matt Mullins drained a pair of three-pointers to open the second half and quickly pull Wilkes within one at 37-36. The Colonels used a 9-2 run to take a 53-47 lead on a pair of Mullins free throws with 9:43 remaining.
Dickinson pulled even again at the 6:54 mark, knotting the game, 54-54. The Devils went in front 61-60 before Cameron Hinkel scored a pair of lay-ups to give Wilkes a 62-61 advantage with just over two minutes remaining in regulation.
Heine found first-year Gerry Wixted (Moorestown, N.J./Lawrenceville Friends) open in the paint to put the Devils back on top, 63-62. Sophomore Adam Honig (Chappaqua, N.Y./Horace Greeley) knocked-down a jumper from the baseline and Barsanti made a huge steal that would lead to a monster dunk from Wixted to stretch the lead to 67-62 with less than 10 seconds to play.
Tyler Breznitsky buried a three-pointer to keep Wilkes' hopes alive, but they were forced to foul with just 0.5 seconds on the clock. Sophomore Tucker Landy (Durham, N.C./Xavier) hit 1-of-2 free throws and the last second shot by Wilkes was off the mark for the final of 68-65.
Wixted led the way with a team-high 21 points, hitting 5-of-7 shot from the floor. He set a Tip-Off Tournament record, hitting 11-of-11 free throws on the night as well, adding five rebounds and three assists.
Landy finished with 13 points and five rebounds while Honig reached double-figures as well with 10 points, adding a pair of assists and two steals while going 4-for-5 from the charity stripe. Barsanti finished with six points and Heine tallied five points and six rebounds for the Devils.
The Red Devils improve to 1-1 on the season. They will face Catholic at 3:30 pm, following the Wilkes-Penn State Harrisburg game at 1:30 pm.