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Lebanon Valley’s success in the paint offsets 22 points from Colonels guard DeRojas.

Wilkes University’s Matt Gould looks to pass under pressure from Lebanon Valley College’s Kyle Enoch Saturday afternoon at the Marts Center The Colonels shot only 28.8 percent from the floor in their 59-47 loss to Lebanon Valley.

S.John Wilkin/the times leader

WILKES-BARRE — Even in his greatest trance-like shooting stretch on Saturday, Chris DeRojas couldn’t pull off what Wilkes needed him to do most.
Grow another foot taller.
While the rookie sharpshooter was doing his best to will the Colonels back against non-conference foe Lebanon Valley, the Flying Dutchmen were scoring at will in the paint.
Wilkes had no answer for a pair of big men – Eric Humphrey in the first half and Peter Ruth in the second – and dropped a disparaging 59-47 decision at the Marts Center.
A disappointed Jerry Rickrode spent 15 minutes addressing his team in the locker room after the loss and emerged lamenting his team’s struggles down low.
“You know it’s not an intense effort when you only have seven rebounds in the first half and only one is an offensive rebound,” the Wilkes coach said. “When you only have seven at the half, that sets a tone.”
Though the Colonels (6-6) improved on the glass with 22 rebounds after halftime, the interior defense couldn’t come up with stops in the final 10 minutes, preventing a final rally.
Ruth, who didn’t attempt a shot in the first half, was unstoppable in the second, going 7-of-8 from the floor and scoring 16 critical points.
On the other side, there was little scoring help for DeRojas, who notched half of Wilkes’ second-half points and finished with a game-high 22.
Leading scorer Tom Kresge followed that up – just missing a double-double with nine points and 11 rebounds – but more than half of his scoring came from the free-throw line, as he shot an uncharacteristic 2-of-10 from the field.
As it was, the Dutchmen (6-8) outshot the Colonels .471 to .288, thanks in large part to the ease with which Lebanon Valley scored in the post.
“We let them catch it where they wanted to and we didn’t contest it,” Rickrode said. “Honestly, we just got beat at the three, the four and the five.”
Wilkes came out with a 9-2 run after halftime to tie the score 30-30, taking its first and only lead of the second half shortly after when DeRojas hit one of his four three-pointers to make it 33-31.
But the Dutchmen answered emphatically when James Shinn soared threw the paint and threw down a tomahawk slam that had the visiting bench on its feet and screaming.
That started a 13-0 run for Lebanon Valley and the Colonels couldn’t pull closer than four the rest of the way.
When the Dutchmen went on a similar run midway through the first half, Rickrode went to the bench to break it as DeRojas and Anthony Gabriel were Wilkes’ entire offense in the 10 minutes before halftime.
Gabriel got things going with a three-ball and a one-handed dunk just over the top of the rim and DeRojas followed it up with a quick five points of his own to erase a 10-point deficit.
DeRojas led Wilkes with nine at the half as the starting five managed just seven points combined – all in the early going.
But Lebanon Valley reserve Humphrey was dominant, going 6-of-8 from the floor and racking up 13 points from close range to stake the Dutchmen to a 28-21 lead at the break.
It all gives Rickrode and the Colonels something to think about as they head into the bulk of conference play when they host DeSales on Wednesday night. After starting the season 3-0 at the Marts Center, Wilkes has dropped the last three there.
“It’s frustrating for me that the consistency doesn’t come,” Rickrode said. “It’s two things that are frustrating – consistent effort and playing together.
“We played a poor game.”