After senior Jim Zinn calmly knocked down two charity tosses with 36 ticks left breaking a tie at 60, Plisko drove the lane, was hit on the arm, and muscled in a shot sending himself to the free throw line for one shot and the game tied at 62. He knocked down the freebie and DSU advanced the ball to half court before calling its final timeout with 7.9 seconds left.
DSU threw the ball to Zinn who turned and dribbled the lane and was met by two Colonel defenders who did not go for the pump fake and Zinn tossed up an off-balance jumper that was blocked. Senior Jeff Clifford secured the long rebound and attempted a desperation three-pointer but that fell short and the buzzer went off giving Wilkes the win.
The loss is the second straight for 17th ranked DeSales who falls to 14-3 overall and 5-2 in the Freedom Conference, while the Colonels improve to 12-5 overall and 5-2 in the conference standings. The Bulldogs have never won at Wilkes in its history falling to 0-14 all-time in the Marts Center.
The game was back and forth the entire afternoon featuring nine ties and 21 lead changes. Wilkes largest lead was six points and came in the first half, while the Bulldogs led by as many as five points in the second half. The Colonels attempted 25 more shots than DSU as the Bulldogs committed 20 turnovers and gave up 20 offensive rebounds. DeSales shot 47.7 percent from the field as compared to Wilkes 34.8 percent shooting, but the Colonels held an 18-3 edge in second chance points.
Three players reached double digits for DeSales including Zinn with a team-high 17 points and eight rebounds. Junior David Spadt totaled 13 points, all in the first half and fellow junior David Bright tallied 16 points and added four blocks off the bench in just 19 minutes played.
Wilkes saw just one player score in double figures as Plisko tallied 18 points on 6-of-18 shooting, but all 10 players who saw minutes scored in the win for the Colonels.
DeSales returns to action on Monday, February 2nd as they travel to local rival Muhlenberg College for a non-league game beginning at 8:00 pm.