With the victory Wilkes heads into the Holiday break with an overall record of 7-2, while also finishing 2-0 in the two-day Classic. Misericordia sees their overall record slide to 3-7.
Wilkes, which led 38-36 at halftime, extended their lead to eight points on a basket by Steve Kline with 15:04 left that made it 51-43. However, the Cougars would rattle off eight consecutive tallies and tied the game at 51-51 on a free throw by Marcus Little with 11:19 left.
Matt Gould converted back-to-back jumpers for Wilkes to put his team back on top 55-51 at the 10:43 mark. The Colonels would maintain the lead throughout much of the remainder of the half before Misericordia went back on top 69-67 on a three-pointer by Tony Rezykowski with 2:50 showing on the clock.
Wilkes' Jeremy Kable hit two charity tosses with 2:26 left, and then drilled a three-pointer with 1:42 remaining to hand Wilkes the lead, 72-69. Vinny Baumunk brought Misericordia within a point at 72-71 with two free throws with just 59 seconds remaining.
On the next Wilkes possession Rezykowski stepped in front of a Chris Gulla pass and went in for a lay-up to put the Cougars on top, 73-72, with 46 seconds left. However, that lead was short-lived when Kresge, who was named to the All-Tournament Team, took a feed inside from Kline and converted with 25 ticks left to put the Colonels ahead for good, 74-73.
The Cougars had a chance to tie with eight seconds left, but Little's attempt was off the mark and Gulla, who was also selected to the All-Tournament Team, rebounded and was fouled. Gulla missed the one-and-one free throw, but grabbed his own miss and was fouled once again with two seconds left. This time the freshman hit one-of-two from the stripe to make it 75-73. The Cougars desperation shot as time expired was off the mark.
Misericordia opened the game by out-scoring Wilkes 10-2 to match their biggest lead of the contest. After the Colonels clawed back to take a 13-12 edge on an Anthony Gabriel basket, the Cougars went on a 10-2 spurt to jump back on top 22-15.
Wilkes would continue to try and chip away at the lead until they final regained the advantage on a Kresge basket that made it 29-28 with 4:23 left in the opening period. The lead would bounce back and forth several times during the rest of the first half before Wilkes assumed a 38-36 halftime lead on a Gabriel field goal as time expired in the period.
Kresge had 19 points and eight rebounds to lead five Wilkes players in double-figures. The Colonels also got 14 points from Kable, 11 points apiece from Kline and Gulla, and 10 tallies from Matt Gould.
Baumunk had 19 tallies and eight boards to pace the MIsericordia attack. Matt Hornak finished with 18 points and six boards. Rezykowski added 14 points and five assists for the Cougars, while Ryan Roa cashed in 10 points.