MBB: Late surge fallen short as visiting Messiah drops Wilkes
Johnny Bamford (#21) defending the ball against Messiah.
WILKES-BARRE, Pa. — A Wilkes University failed to complete the comeback as they lost their first home game of the season, falling to the Messiah College Falcons 67-64.
It was an overall sloppy game for the Colonels as they had their fewest point total of the season.
The game was filled with turnovers and disappointment for the Colonels as they missed two key players Mark Mullins and Tommy Bowen.
“They obviously play a lot for us and they make significant contributions,” Wilkes head coach Izzi Metz explained. “They have long bodies that are tough to play against and really help us out.”
Mullins and Bowen are both expected to be back soon, but with Connor Evans out until at least Christmas, the Colonels will really need those two guys back soon.
“Every team goes through adversity and I know it sounds cliché, but we need to step up and get through these injuries,” Metz added. “Today we struggled and didn’t get the job done.”
The game was controlled by Messiah for most of the game, as they led the Colonels by 18 with four minutes to go in the second half, but the Colonels surged back and got themselves an opportunity to tie the game with 23 seconds left.
Down by three points, the Falcons decided to foul Robert Pecorelli, to prevent the Colonels from getting a chance at a three point play. Pecorelli missed both free throws which virtually ended the Colonels chance at completing the surprising comeback.
The Colonels will look to get over their sloppy play when they play Summit at home on Tuesday.
Wilkes will hope to have Bowen and Mullins back for that game, but if they don’t, they will use the common next man up mentality.
Ben Mandell is currently the co-sports editor. Mandell began as a staff writer in Fall 2017, promoted to assistant editor in Spring 2018 and was promoted...