The Colonels, who will play in the Ramada Inn/Monarch Classic at King’s College on Friday and Saturday to end their first semester of action, improved to 5-2 overall. Kean suffered just their second loss of the season in falling to 8-2.
Jeremy Kable would knock down three straight three-pointers in the opening 2:14 of the game to give Wilkes a 9-6 lead. However, Bryan Keller answered for the Cougars with his second three-pointer that tied the game at 9-9 just 3:55 into the contest.
Wilkes would never trail in the game and took the lead for good on a pair of free throws by Tom Kresge with 15:50 left in the opening stanza that made it 11-9. After Kean pulled to within 13-12, Kresge hit two more free throws, Steve Kline scored inside, Chris Gulla canned two charity tosses and Dan Adams scored off a Gulla assist during an 8-0 run that gave the Colonels a 21-12 lead with 11:15 showing on the clock.
The Cougars would cut the deficit to three points, 30-27, on a basket by Levan Tilly just 4:17 before intermission. But, Kable and Matt Gould connected on three-pointers and Gulla hit two from the charity stripe to extend the lead to 38-27 with 1:52 left. Wilkes would eventually head into the halftime locker room with a 40-33 lead.
A pair of three-pointers by Keller early in the second half helped Kean pull to within 44-39 with 18:44 left. Wilkes responded with a 15-4 run to open up a 16-point advantage. Kline had five points and both Kresge and Dan Adams had four points apiece during the run that upped the Colonels lead to 59-43 with 12:56 left.
The lead was still 13 points, 67-54, with less than eight minutes remaining when Kean began to chip away. A steal and basket by Lamar Wright capped a string of six straight points by the Cougars that made it 67-60 with 6:51 left.
Gould would make it 69-60 with a pair of free throws on the Colonels next possession. Tilly then hit two charity tosses for Kean and William Floyd scored on a fast break to cut the deficit to 69-64 with 5:48 remaining.
Clinging to a 71-66 lead, Gould hit one-of-two from the line and Kresge scored off an assist from Adams to push the Wilkes lead to 74-66 with 2:18 left. After a pair of free throws by Kean’s Bryan Miller at the 1:42 mark made it 74-68, the Colonels’ John Kelly put a dagger in the Cougars when he hit a three-pointer from the corner with the shot clock winding down to make it 77-68 with just 1:05 left. Wilkes would convert six-of-eight free throws down the stretch to seal the deal.
Gould finished with 21 points, including a 14-of-17 performance from the free throw line, to lead Wilkes. Kresge added 14 points and 10 rebounds. Kable had 13 tallies, Kline had 11 points, eight rebounds and five assists, while Gulla finished with 10 points, three assists and five steals.
Keller went 5-for-9 from behind the three-point line to pace the Kean attack with 19 points. Wright and Steve Koenigstein chipped in with nine points each for the Cougars.