Wilkes, which held a 37-31 lead at intermission, saw their lead trimmed to 55-52 on a basket by Kevin White with 10:18 remaining in the game. The Colonels responded by outscoring FDU-Florham 19-6 down the stretch to earn the victory.
John Sclafani drilled a three-pointer to provide Wilkes with a 58-52 lead. Chris Shovlin then converted consecutive field goal attempts to extend the Colonels advantage to 62-52 with 8:52 left. After a three-point play by the Devils’ Chris Hendershot cut the gap to 62-55, Dan Adams scored off an assist from Sclafani and Shovlin drained a long three-pointer to up the Wilkes lead to 67-55 with 6:23 showing on the clock. FDU-Florham would not get within single digits again.
Wilkes raced out to an 11-0 lead thanks to six points by Shovlin in the opening 1:56 of the game. FDU-Florham would chip away until they took their only lead of the game, 26-25, on a Hendershot basket with 7:21 remaining in the first half.
With the game tied at 30-30 late in the stanza, Wilkes embarked on a 7-1 spurt to end the half. Shovlin hit a jumper and a pair of free throws to put the Colonels on top 34-30. After Yanniello cashed in a three-pointer to make it 37-30, Daniel Scaturro hit one-of-two from the free throw stripe to make it 37-31 at intermission.
Wilkes would remain on top and held a 54-43 lead after Shovlin cashed in a four-point play with 12:16 left. The Devils answered with a 9-1 run to cut the gap to 55-52. Hendershot scored on a three-point play and Greg Cardamone hit a free throw for Wilkes to push the score to 55-46. Hendershot then scored four straight points prior to White’s field goal that pulled the Devils within 55-52.
Shovlin continued his outstanding play with 28 points, seven rebounds, five assists and five steals. Yanniello contributed 17 points and three boards. Matt Gould handed out six assists for the Colonels, while Dan Adams came off the bench to provide six points and six rebounds.
Hendershot had 28 points and 16 rebounds for FDU-Florham. Frank Emslie added 11 points, eight assists and four rebounds.