FEBRUARY 13, 2018

WILKES MEN WIN DOMINATE BOARDS TO WIN 100TH MEETING VERSUS KING'S

WILKES-BARRE -- The Wilkes University men's basketball team used its superior size to outscore host King's College from both the inside and the outside, while also dominating the glass, as the visiting Colonels posted a 101-72 victory in the 100th meeting between the programs Tuesday night in Scandlon Gymnasium.

With the win, Wilkes improved to 18-6 overall and clinched the top seed in next week's MAC Freedom Conference Tournament after upping their league mark to 11-2.  King's, which fell out of playoff contention last week, slipped to 10-14 and 6-7 with its third straight conference loss.

Wilkes came out of the gates and built an early 17-9 lead 6: 35 into the game after a three-pointer by Marcus Robinson. The lead eventually grew to 26-12 on an inside bucket with Tommy Bowen with 10:17 remaining in the opening half.  King's trimmed the lead to 26-16 after back-to-baskets by Chris Fazzini with 8:19 on the clock, but the Colonels slowly stretched the lead, taking a 49-27 lead into the half-time break.

Wilkes shot 59.3 (16-27) percent in the first half while holding a huge 27-8 rebounding margin in the opening stanza. King's, with a starting line-up consisting of three players 5-foot-8 and under, shot just 33.3 (10-30) in the first half and 28.6 (2-7) percent from three-point range.

In the second half, King's cut the lead to 16 points after consecutive three-pointers by Joshua Bailey and Connor Callejas brought the Monarchs to within 51-35. But Wilkes answered virtually every King's basket. After the Monarchs came within 16 points on two other occasions, the Colonels used an 11-7 surge to extend the lead to 69-45 after a lay-up by Mason Gross with 13:25 to go.

King's cut the score to 18 points with 11:30 left, and then 19 points at the 8:40 mark, but the Monarchs came no closer than 20 points the rest of the way.

Wilkes finished a balanced attack by placing five players in double-figures. Rob Pecorelli led the Colonels with 19 points and six assists while Mark Mullins followed with 16 points and nine rebounds. Gross tallied 15 points and seven boards while Robinson finished with  14 points, 11 rebounds, and four assists. Zach Brunner contributed 12 points in just 14 minutes of play.

For King's, Fazzini had team-highs of 17 points and four rebounds. Callejas followed with 16 points and three assists while Tyler Millan added 14 points and three rebounds. Bailey chipped in with 10 points and three rebounds.

The Monarchs shot 39.1 (25-64) percent from the floor and 34.8 (8-23) percent from three-point range. King's also made 77.8 (14-18) from the free throw line.

For the game, Wilkes held a whopping 51-21 rebounding advantage and finished with a 57.6 (34-59) shooting percentage while making 41.7 (10-24) of their shots from three-point range. The Colonels also made 74.2 (23-31) of their shots from the foul line.

King's will close out the season Saturday at home with a 3:00 PM matchup against FDU-Florham in Scandlon Gymnasium.  The Monarchs will also hold their Alumni Game at 10:00 AM.