Men's Basketball Holds Off Wilkes, 64-58
Shane Kellaher led Marywood to their 3rd straight win in the Cross County Challenge with a game-high 18 points

Men's Basketball Holds Off Wilkes, 64-58

Men's Basketball - 1/2/2015 7:45:00 PM

Box Score Box Score

Wilkes-Barre, PA - Shane Kellaher had a game-high 18 points and Michael Rotell and Jeremy Ringland each added 10 as Marywood held off Wilkes University for a 64-58 non-conference men's basketball win Friday evening on day one of the fourth annual Cross County Challenge, hosted by King's College.  The Pacers improved to 6-3 and will take on the host Monarchs Saturday at 3:00 pm in search of their fourth consecutive win in the Challenge.

Marywood, who defeated both Luzerne County schools in the 2014 edition of the Challenge, led for much of the contest but the Colonels (6-5) would never go away. 

The Pacers hit 42% of their shots from the floor for the game while limiting Wilkes to 33.8% shooting. 

Marywood jumped out to a 6-0 lead but Wilkes responded with eight straight points of their own to take an early 8-6 lead.  With the Colonels up 10-8, Marywood went on a 8-0 run capped by an Alex Barr layup with 8:18 to go in the opening stanza and would not relinquish the lead again.

After a Wilkes three, Marywood would surge ahead by as many as nine points in the first half before going into the break with seven point cushion, up 33-27.

Despite going up by 13 on a Ringland layup with five minutes gone in the second half, the Pacers struggled to put Wilkes away.  The Colonels got to within four on several occasions over the final 10 minutes of play, but each time they did, the Pacers found a way to counter the run and keep Wilkes at bay and secure their sixth win of the season.

After going 0-4 in the first two years of the Cross County Challenge, Marywood has rattled off three consecutive wins in the tournament under second year Head Coach Bob Simmons.

King's will close out Friday night action against the University of Scranton.  Scranton and Wilkes will open day two with a 1:00 pm game before the Pacers and Monarchs take the court in the finale. 
Print Friendly Version