Wilkes Barre, Pa (November 18, 2023) - Alvernia University (2-1) dropped its first game of the season to Wilkes University (3-0) 83-76, in a non-conference men's basketball matchup Saturday evening at Wilkes. 

The Colonels led by two, 37-35 at the half and outscored the Golden Wolves 46-41 in the second half en route to a eight point, 83-73 victory. 

The Golden Wolves jumped out to an early 7-2 lead in the first three minutes of the first half. Robert Mullan knocked down a three and added a free throw, Kyle Gordon knocked down one from the line and Nigel Cooke added a layup for Alvernia. 

Wilkes then responded with a 6-2 run to cut the Alvernia lead to 9-8 but the Golden Wolves responded with layups from Mullan and Malik Slay, Jalil Schenck knocked down a two point jumper and Jakob Kelly knocked down a three ball as Alvernia extended its lead to 18-13 with 12 minutes to go in the half. 

Wilkes bounced back with a 9-0 scoring run over the next three minutes to grab the 22-18 lead with eight minutes to go in the half. 

Slay knocked down two shots from the charity stripe to cut it to 22-20 Colonels but Wilkes responded with an 8-5 run in the next two and a half minutes to maintain the five point, 30-25 lead. 

Kelly knocked down a two point jumper to make it a 30-27 ballgame but Wilkes tallied four of the next five points to push the lead to six, 34-28 with just over three minutes remaining in the first half. 

Lucas Lesko hit a three ball for Wilkes to extend the lead to seven, but a layup from Cooke and a three ball from Schenck saw the Golden Wolves cut the Wilkes lead to two, 37-35 after the first 20 minutes of basketball. 

The Colonels started the second half by ripping off a 12-2 scoring run in the first four minutes of the half to extend their lead to 12, 49-37. 

The Golden Wolves responded with a run of their own, a 10-2 scoring run that cut the Wilkes lead to four, 51-47 with 13 minutes to go in the game. Gordon tallied a dunk and Cooke and Schenck both tallied three points during the Alvernia run. 

The Colonels tallied five of the next nine points to maintain their five point, 56-51 lead with ten minutes to go in the half. 

Alvernia and Wilkes continued to trade buckets back and forth for the next four minutes with the Colones holding a 63-58 lead with six minutes to go. Mullan tallied three points and both Slay and Gordon added two points during the stretch. 

Kelly knocked down a free throw and Mullan knocked down two free throws and a jumper to cut the deficit to four, 67-63 with 4:26 to go. 

Wilkes tallied yet another scoring run, this one a 16-13 run in the final four minutes of the game to secure the eight point, 83-76 victory over the Golden Wolves. 

Mullan led Alvernia with 19 points and three assists, Schenck tallied 14, including three from beyond the arc. Gordon added 12, Cooke had 11 and Slay recorded a double double with 10 points and a team high 11 rebounds. 

The Golden Wolves are back in action on Tuesday November 28th when they travel to Neumann to take on the Knights at 7:00 PM.