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WILKES-BARRE — Wilkes punched its ticket back to the MAC Freedom men’s basketball tournament with a win over cross-town rival King’s on Saturday.
When King’s and Wilkes met back on January 16, the Monarchs shocked the MAC Freedom and beat the Colonels by nearly 30 points on senior day. But the Colonels used the second meeting to get revenge on their rival with a 76-51 win.
“We feel comfortable heading into the tournament,” Wilkes head Coach Izzi Metz said. “Road teams historically win in the tournament, so anyone can win. We need to continue taking things one game at a time.”
Prior to the game, Wilkes honored their five seniors Tommy Bowen, Marcus Robinson, Connor Evans, Zach Walser and Clay Basalyga.
Wilkes started all seniors in this one to honor the group, and they hung in with the Monarchs’ starting five to open the game.
“We had a good energy level today for many reasons today. It was senior day, the game was for charity, and we were playing our rival,” Metz said. “I also think we have been playing really good basketball the last few weeks.”
After about four minutes Wilkes trailed 8-6 and Metz opted to put in his normal starters in, taking Walser and Basalyga out for Mark Mullins and Rob Pecorelli.
Almost instantly, Pecorelli knocked down a couple of 3-pointers for the Colonels and they went on a run, taking a 19-10 lead.
“That was huge,” Metz said of Pecorelli coming off the bench. “He’s been starting all year and you never know how he is going react coming off the bench but he showed good maturity and a good job for us.”
Wilkes continued to roll on the offensive side of the ball as they shot 9-of-19 on the 3-pointers in the first half, including a buzzer beater from Evans just past halfcourt to put Wilkes up 46-26 that seemingly drained the life out of the Monarchs.
The second half followed the same map as the first meeting between these two teams. But instead of King’s being up big, it was Wilkes.
The Colonels kept the Monarchs from fighting their way back into the game and finished with a 25-point win.
Pecorelli scored a team-high 17 points, followed by Evans who had 15. The Monarchs were led by Jake Pawliczak, who scored 12 points.
Wilkes will be joining Delaware Valley, Eastern and the current top seed DeSales in the MAC Freedom postseason.
The final two games will help decide seeding. Delaware Valley lost Saturday, meaning Wilkes’ match up with the Aggies on Tuesday could help decide who has to travel to DeSales or Eastern.
DeSales 76, Misericordia 60
Misericordia was eliminated from the postseason.
Jason Kenny had 13 points to lead three Cougars in double figures. Patrick Douthit added 12 points and Tyerell Mann had 10 points and six rebounds.
Misericordia led 40-39 early in the second half, but DeSales went on a 17-2 run to take a 56-42 lead with 11:31 to play.
