Wilkes Puts an End to Pacers' Cross County Streak
Shane Letthand scored a career-best 26 points in a loss to Wilkes

Wilkes Puts an End to Pacers' Cross County Streak

Men's Basketball - 11/28/2015 6:41:00 PM

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Scranton, PA - Marywood University's four-game unbeaten streak in the Cross County Challenge came to a close on its home court in an 82-69 loss to Wilkes University Saturday. The Pacers drop their first game in three seasons in the yearly Scranton/Wilkes-Barre battle.

Marywood turned what was once a 21-point deficit to a one-possession game in the waning minutes. Wilkes went on an 11-point run in the final three minutes to ensure its first Cross County victory in three years.

Shane Letthand scored a career-high26 points. He went 9 for 16 shooting, hit four 3-pointers, and contributed three assists.

Scranton plays Wilkes Sunday in the de facto championship game Sunday at 1 p.m. at the Insalaco Arena. Marywood faces King's College in the nightcap at 3 p.m. The Royals knocked off the Monarchs in the Challenge's other game by a 70-58 margin for its ninth win. Scranton has not lost a game in the series' five-year history.

Both the Colonels and Pacers combined for an astounding 54 3-point attempts. Wilkes (3-2) made nine of 29 for 31 percent, and Marywood found net on seven of 25 for 28 percent.

Kendall Harris secured a double-double with 16 points and 12 reounds. Connor Callejas had 10 points. Both Harris and Callejas combined to go 16 of 18 from the charity stripe.

They were not to be outdone by five Wilkes players in double figures. Alec Wizar led the Colonels with 19 points, and Steve Stravinski racked a double-double with 18 points and 15 rebounds.

Wilkes held onto a 22-12 advantage in assists and a slight 37-34 edge off the glass. Both teams committed a dozen turnovers.

The Colonels raced out of the gate with a 14-point to lead 17-4 within the first 6:06. Marywood crawled back to bring the deficit to two possessions on a Cory Callejas 3-pointer (22-16) at the 10:15; however, Wilkes responded again with a 15-point to lead by 21 points with 6:01 left in the first half.

Trailing by 13 at the break, Marywood (3-2) failed to gain any traction at the start of the first half. One of Stravinski's three pushed the lead to 18 at 14:37. Marywood crawled back with the help of some Wilkes foul trouble. A pair of back-to-back Letthand buckets from beyond the arc made it a two-point contest (67-65) with just over four minutes remaining.

At the other end, Stravinski was fouled after an offensive rebounds and made a pair at the line. Letthand came up with a layup from Connor Callejas to bring it back to a two-point game with 3:16 left. Sixty-seven seconds later, Wizar made a decisive 3-pointers and Stravinski made a block on the Pacers' end. Wilkes closed out the game with two straight field goals and eight consecutive free throws.

Marywood is 4-5 all-time in the Cross County Challenge.
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