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GOULD LEADS WILKES PAST TUFTS, 84-73, IN OPENING ROUND OF WILKES-BARRE CHALLENGE

(Wilkes-Barre, PA) – Senior guard Matt Gould poured in a career-high 29 points to lead Wilkes University to an 84-73 win over Tufts University in an opening round game at the Wilkes-Barre Challenge hosted by King’s College.

Wilkes, who improved to 4-4 overall, will square off with Misericordia University in day two action at the Challenge on Sunday afternoon at 1:00 p.m. Tufts, who saw their record slip to 6-3, will meet King’s on Sunday at 3:00 p.m.

Tufts held a 24-20 lead in the opening half and stretched the advantage to 30-20 on a basket inside by Jake Weitzen with 3:51 left in the stanza.

The Colonels would follow with a 15-0 spurt to end the half to take a 35-30 lead into intermission. Three-pointers by Chris Gulla and Gould cut the Jumbos lead to 30-26 with 2:27 showing on the clock. Gould would follow with two free throws to make it 30-28, before scoring on a drive with 1:48 left to knot the game at 30-30. Gulla put Wilkes ahead for the first time with a field goal at the 1:04 mark and Chris DeRojas nailed a three-pointer with just six ticks left to send the Colonels into halftime with the five-point lead.

Wilkes would never trail in the second half, although Tufts did pull even at 44-44 on a Jeremy Black three-pointer with 15:44 left. The game would stay close and the two teams were still tied at 59-59 with 8:48 remaining.

The Colonels would take the lead for good with an 11-2 run that culminated in a 70-61 advantage with 6:11 to go. DeRojas began the decisive streak with consecutive three-pointers that made it 65-59. After a basket by Tufts’ Tom Selby cut the lead to 65-51, Tom Kresge hit a three-pointer and Gould knocked down a jumper to extend the Wilkes lead to nine points.

The Jumbos clawed back to within four, 74-70, on a pair of Weitzen free throws with 2:25 to play. Gould would cash in two free throws and a drive to make it 78-70 with 1:03 left. A layup by Kresge, a free throw by DeRojas and a pair of charity tosses by Tom Wychock put the game out of reach and made it 83-70 with only 18 seconds to go.

Gould, who went 7-for-11 from the field and converted 13-of-13 free throw attempts, also handed out four assists. Kresge had 17 points and nine rebounds. Steve Kline, who had five caroms, and DeRojas chipped in 12 points apiece, while Gulla popped in 10 tallies.

Tufts was led by Weitzen’s 18 points and six rebounds. Jon Pierce finished with 15 tallies and Black had 11 points and eight assists.

WILKES 84, TUFTS 73

TUFTS (6-3)
Jake Weitzen 6-15 6-6 18; Jon Pierce 6-13 2-4 15; Jeremy Black 4-8 0-0 11;
Dan Cook 3-3 0-0 9; Aaron Gallant 2-5 2-2 6; Pat Sullivan 2-4 0-0 5; Tom
Selby 2-2 0-0 4; Matt Galvin 1-1 0-0 3; Brian Lowry 1-3 0-0 2; Dave Beyel
0-1 0-0 0; Sam Mason 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 27-55 10-12 73.

WILKES (4-4)
Matt Gould 7-11 13-13 29; Tom Kresge 5-13 6-6 17; Steve Kline 5-12 2-4 12; Chris DeRojas 3-4 3-6 12; Chris Gulla 4-4 1-2 10; Tom Wychock 0-0 2-2 2; John Defeo 1-3 0-0 2; Chris Hopkins 0-0 0-0 0; Andrew Durako 0-1 0-0 0; Matt Smyth 0-0 0-0 0; Josh Pstrak 0-0 0-0 0; Anthony Gabriel 0-2 0-0 0; Kyle Ruby 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-50 27-33 84.

Tufts........................... 30 43 - 73
Wilkes........................ 35 49 - 84

3-point goals--Tufts 9-22 (Dan Cook 3-3; Jeremy Black 3-6; Pat Sullivan 1-3;
Matt Galvin 1-1; Jon Pierce 1-4; Aaron Gallant 0-2; Jake Weitzen 0-3),
Wilkes 7-13 (Chris DeRojas 3-4; Matt Gould 2-5; Tom Kresge 1-2; Chris Gulla 1-1; Steve Kline 0-1). Fouled out--Tufts-Aaron Gallant, Wilkes-None.
Rebounds--Tufts 27 (Jake Weitzen 6), Wilkes 30 (Tom Kresge 9).
Assists--Tufts 17 (Jeremy Black 8), Wilkes 13 (Matt Gould 4). Total
fouls--Tufts 24, Wilkes 14. Technical fouls--Tufts-None, Wilkes-None. A-200

Sunday Schedule
Wilkes vs. Misericordia, 1:00 p.m.
King's vs. Tufts, 3:00 p.m.