Wilkes-Barre, PA (December 1, 2021) - The 25th ranked DeSales University men's basketball team held Wilkes University scoreless over the final 5:29 to earn a 65-61 win over the Colonels in the MAC Freedom opener for both teams on Wednesday evening in Marts Center.

The Basics

• Final Score: DeSales - 65, Wilkes - 61
• Records: DeSales (7-0, 1-0 MAC Freedom); Wilkes (2-4, 0-1 MAC Freedom)
• The Bulldogs have won six straight vs. the Colonels and improve to 37-29 in the all-time series with Wilkes.
• The Bulldogs are now 7-0 for the first time since the 2008-09 season when DSU opened the year with a 9-0 record.
• DeSales is now ranked #25 in the D3hoops.com National Top 25 poll released on Tuesday morning.

How it Happened

• The Bulldogs started the game ice cold from the field as Wilkes used a 10-2 run early to take a 16-6 lead 5:43 into the game.
• Sophomore Mason Barnes entered the game and gave DSU a spark scoring 10 points as part of a 18-6 run that gave DSU its first lead (24-22) at the 7:22 mark of the first-half.
• The Colonels scored six straight points to re-take the lead and took a 36-30 advantage into the halftime locker room as DSU shot just 34.3 percent from the field over the first 20 minutes.
• Wilkes expanded its lead to 10 points (42-32) early in the third quarter and led by nine (52-43) at the 13:32 mark before a 9-0 run DeSales run tied the game at 52 with 10:58 to go.
• The game went back-and-forth over the next several minutes and was still tied at 61 with 5:05 left on a short jumper from junior Keba Mitchell.
• After several empty possessions for both teams, DeSales took a 63-61 lead on a lay-up from senior Matt Kachelries who had leaked out during a defensive rebound at the 2:33 mark.
• The the two teams combined for eight straight empty possessions over the next two minutes as the Bulldogs clung to a two-point lead.
• DSU had possession with 25 seconds left as Wilkes looked to foul to get DeSales into the bonus but an inbounds pass at halfcourt led to a dunk from Mitchell on the other end before the Colonels could foul and the defense did the rest over the final 22 seconds to post the win and the final tally.

Top Bulldog Performers

• Barnes finished with a game-high 18 points, hitting 3 3's off the bench.
• Mitchell added 12 points off the bench and blocked four shots on the defensive side of the ball.
• Sophomore Elijah Eberly also reached double digits with 10 points and was just one rebound shy of a double-double.
• Kachelries had nine and junior Jordan Holmqvist finished with eight in the win.

For the Foes

• Trent Fisher had 18 points for the Colonels.
• Sean Coller and Drake Marshall each had 11 points in the loss.

Inside the Box Score

• DeSales shook off a tough shooting first-half to shoot 58.3 percent in the second-half.
• The Bulldogs bench dominated the Colonels bench out-scoring them, 34-7.

Up Next

• DeSales is back on the court on Saturday when they host Arcadia University in another MAC Freedom game beginning at 3:00 pm.