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Playoff basketball was all over the Wyoming Valley Thursday night. Wilkes University was no exception.
The Wilkes men’s basketball is one step away from a MAC Freedom championship after beating Eastern, 79-72, in the semifinals at the Marts Center.
“I’m excited to go back to a championship game,” Wilkes head coach Izzi Metz said. “I think we’ve earned everything up to this point. Our guys work extremely hard and tonight was a hard-fought game like we expected.”
The Colonels were led by by their top-four scorers as Tommy Bowen, Rob Pecorelli, Mark Mullins and Marcus Robinson each ended the game in double figures.
“When those four can play well scoring and playing well in the other spots in the game we have a good chance to win every game,” Metz said. “Those four guys are capable of scoring in double figures every night and they did tonight.”
Eastern scored the game’s first basket and led 5-4, but Wilkes took a 7-4 lead and held the lead for the rest of the game.
“We were able to start right from the get go and make some shots and come up with some stops on defense,” Metz said. “We played with a lead for the entire game which helped us play with confidence.”
Eastern did make a run early in the second half, cutting a 13-point lead down to just one. But the Colonels were able to get their feet underneath themselves and build their lead back up to a comfortable position, which was a theme most of the night.
Wilkes spent the majority of the game leading by at least five or six.
“It was huge for us to string together defensive stops and push in transition,” Metz said. “The guys really played like veteran players tonight and it helped us.”
Bowen scored 22 points to lead the Colonels on the offensive end, followed by Pecorelli who scored 18. Mullins and Robinson both had good games on both sides of the ball as Mullins scored 16 points and had four steals while Robinson had 10 points and three steals.
Bowen had a tough matchup against two of the conference’s best big men in Michael Bowlers and William Blet, but still thrived.
“I just try to do whatever I can,” Bowen said. “I like to think I have a step on most big guys in the league down low. I may be smaller but I love to play physical and run the floor.”
The Colonels were also fueled by a big crowd at the Marts Center as the team had support from the campus and their families.
“It was awesome to have a big crowd come out and support us,” Bowen said. “They were loud, and they gave us a nice boost.
Now the Colonels will travel to DeSales for the MAC Freedom Championship game on Saturday after the Bulldogs beat Delaware Valley, 61-50, in the semifinals.
The Colonels went 1-1 in conference play against DeSales, with the home team winning each game.
This will be the second straight year DeSales will host the championship after they lost to Misericordia last year.
WOMEN
No. 1 DeSales 71, No. 4 King’s 56
King’s College led midway through the fourth-quarter, but top-seeded DeSales used a 18-2 run over the final four minutes to end the upset bid.
Senior Lindsey Dippre finished with a season and career-high 16 points on 5-of-11 shooting. She was 4-of-8 from deep. Mackenzie Yori played 38 minutes and tallied 15 points and eight rebounds and Rebecca Prociak chalked up eight points and a team-leading 10 rebounds along with four assists.
Alexis Steeber just missed a double-double, scoring 10 points and adding nine rebounds to finish her career at King’s. However, she did score her 1,000th career point in the loss, draining a 3-pointer in the early stages of the third quarter.
MAC Freedom Player of the Year Morgan Birmelin finished with a game-high 19 points for DeSales.
DeSales will host Misericordia on Saturday in the championship game.
N. 2 Misericordia 69, No. 3 Manhattanville 53
Misericordia defeated Manhattanville to capture its program-best 22nd victory of the season. The Cougars will make their first appearance in the MAC Freedom Championship since winning it all in 2012.
Paige Wampole led the way for the Cougars with 16 points and 12 rebounds for her third consecutive double-double and seventh of the season. The junior forward shot 7-of-11 from the field and controlled the offensive glass with five rebounds.
Tessa Zamolyi stuffed the stat sheet for the Cougars with 13 points, eight rebounds, four assists and four blocked shots while coming off the bench. The sophomore shot 6-of-12 from the field and led the team in efficiency with a game-high 28 plus/minus.
Kalynn Sefcik was the third Cougar to reach double-figures with 20 points. She shot 4-of-7 from the field with four assists, three rebounds and two steals.