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<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; In just 90 seconds, everything changed.</p><p>Down seven at halftime after battling major foul trouble, Wilkes was only too happy to get its starting five back on the court together.</p><p>They didn&#8217;t disappoint.</p><p>The Colonels blitzed Manhattanville for four straight buckets out of the break to erase that deficit for good, knocking off the Valiants 78-66 on Saturday at the Marts Center. The Colonels&#8217; third straight win lifted them into a three-way tie for third place in the Freedom Conference as they enter the February home stretch.</p><p>&#8220;We had a good talk at halftime. Nothing emotional,&#8221; Wilkes coach Izzi Metz said. &#8220;Just basically, &#8216;Hey, we didn&#8217;t play well, we&#8217;re gonna play much better in the second half.&#8217; &#8220;</p><p>That happened immediately.</p><p>Wilkes (9-10, 4-4) needed only a minute-and-a-half to dig out of the hole, and only a few more minutes to swell its new lead to double digits before staving off the Valiants the rest of the way.</p><p>With three starters on the bench with foul problems, it was the Colonels&#8217; seniors who came through. Pittston Area grad Steve Stravinski shined the brightest, finishing with 26 points and nine rebounds. Alec Wizar added 15 points and seven boards.</p><p>&#8220;They like to speed you up, so we just slowed down on offense and took our time,&#8221; Stravinski said. &#8220;We got the shots we wanted. We brought so much more energy than we did in the first half.&#8221;</p><p>Stravinski was 9 for 17 from the floor, including 3 for 5 from deep. His day was highlighted by a twisting and tunneling drive through traffic for a layup and a foul &#8212; a three-point play that put the Colonels up 11 late and allowed them to seal the game from the stripe.</p><p>&#8220;Steve was tremendous in the second half,&#8221; Metz said. &#8220;He was unbelievable. He hit big shots, he played good &#8216;D,&#8217; he came up with big rebounds.</p><p>&#8220;This time of year, you want your seniors to be playing their best basketball, and I think they are.&#8221;</p><p>Though Wizar only hit three shots, all of them were threes to help fuel the rally. The senior played all 40 minutes on a day where fellow guards Connor Evans and Marcus Robinson spent more than half the game on the bench.</p><p>Starters Evans, Robinson and Zach Brunner &#8212; who finished 12 for 13 from the floor in two games this week &#8212; all battled foul trouble early in both halves. Brunner scored 10 points in 13 minutes before fouling out.</p><p>With their depth tested, the Colonels got quality minutes off the bench from their underclassmen. Metz mentioned Clay Basalyga (11 rebounds), Zach Walser and John Goffredo by name, all of whom played 13-plus minutes.</p><p>&#8220;We have five or six guys that come in off the bench like that,&#8221; Stravinski said. &#8220;It&#8217;s awesome.&#8221;</p><p><strong>Alumni recognized</strong></p><p>Wilkes honored its six newest inductees into the school&#8217;s athletics hall of fame at halftime, led by Brett Trichilo, the two-time Melberger Award winner as the Division III football player of the year.</p><p>Also recognized were Brian Gryboski (men&#8217;s basketball), Justine Nemshick (field hockey), Tracy Engle (field hockey), Michelle Zawoiski (women&#8217;s basketball/softball), and Gerry Willetts (wrestling).</p><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Wilkes 78, Manhattanville 66</strong></p><p><strong>MANHATTANVILLE (66)</strong> &#8212; Anthony Maestre 3-13 5-6 11, Alex Tuci 3-9 3-5 10, Willie Britton 4-10 1-4 9, Charles Nardone 4-11 2-2 11, Andrew Winter 2-9 0-0 4, Dom Arena 5-9 4-4 16, Timmy Quinlan 0-1 0-0 0, Brian Haggerty 2-4 0-0 5. <strong>Totals 23-66 15-21 66.</strong></p><p><strong>WILKES (78)</strong> &#8212; Connor Evans 1-6 2-2 4, Marcus Robinson 2-6 3-4 8, Alec Wizar 3-13 6-7 15, Steve Stravinski 9-17 5-5 26, Zach Brunner 4-4 2-2 10, Collin Farnham 0-2 0-0 0, Tommy Bowen 1-1 1-2 4, John Goffredo 0-1 0-0 0, Casey Evans 0-0 0-0 0, Clay Basalyga 3-7 0-0 7, Quinlin Parsons 0-1 0-0 0, Zachary Walser 2-3 0-0 4. <strong>Totals 25-61 19-22 78.</strong></p><p><strong>Halftime</strong> &#8212; Manhattanville, 33-26</p><p><strong>3-point goals</strong> &#8212; MVC 5-26 (Arena 2-5, Nardone 1-1, Tuci 1-3, Haggerty 1-3, Quinlan 0-1, Britton 0-2, Winter 0-4, Maestre 0-7); WU 9-26 (Stravinski 3-5, Wizar 3-12, Bowen 1-1, Basalyga 1-2, Robinson 1-3, Evans 0-1, Farnham 0-1, Goffredo 0-1)</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Marcus Robinson of Wilkes, right, tries to drive past Manhattanville&#8217;s Andrew Winter and Anthony Maestre in the first half during Saturday&#8217;s men&#8217;s college basketball game in Wilkes-Barre. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/web1_wilkesmanhattanville01.jpg</photo0><caption0>Marcus Robinson of Wilkes, right, tries to drive past Manhattanville&#8217;s Andrew Winter and Anthony Maestre in the first half during Saturday&#8217;s men&#8217;s college basketball game in Wilkes-Barre. </caption0><photoCredit0>Pete G. Wilcox|Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/web1_wilkesmanhattanville02.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Alec Wizar of Wilkes goes in for a lay up as Manhattanville&#8217;s Anthony Maestre looks on during Saturday&#8217;s men&#8217;s college basketball game at the Marts Center in Wilkes-Barre. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/web1_wilkesmanhattanville02.jpg</photo1><caption1>Alec Wizar of Wilkes goes in for a lay up as Manhattanville&#8217;s Anthony Maestre looks on during Saturday&#8217;s men&#8217;s college basketball game at the Marts Center in Wilkes-Barre. </caption1><photoCredit1>Pete G. Wilcox|Times Leader </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/web1_wilkesmanhattanville03.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Clay Basalyga of Wilkes goes in for a layup during Saturday&#8217;s mens college basketball game at the Marts Center in Wilkes-Barre. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/web1_wilkesmanhattanville03.jpg</photo2><caption2>Clay Basalyga of Wilkes goes in for a layup during Saturday&#8217;s mens college basketball game at the Marts Center in Wilkes-Barre. </caption2><photoCredit2>Pete G. Wilcox|Times Leader </photoCredit2></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Derek Levarse</p><p>dlevarse@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Derek Levarse at 570-991-6396 or on Twitter @TLdlevarse</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Emphatic second half lifts Wilkes basketball to third straight win