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D2 boys basketball: Jake Krupinski’s three-pointer gives Nanticoke win over Meyers

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<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; Tre&#8217; Fields stood at half-court in the final seconds, waving his arms for the Misericordia contingent to make some noise.</p><p>It was quite fitting, really, as it was the senior who led the charge defensively in the final 10 minutes Wednesday.</p><p>As Fields and teammates ramped up the pressure on Wilkes, Jason Kenny was in the middle of another hot streak as the Cougars&#8217; junior standout finished with a game-high 29 points, leading Misercordia back to the Freedom Conference title game with a 72-58 win over the Colonels at the Marts Center.</p><p>Misericordia, the defending league champ, hits the road Saturday for the title tilt against DeSales, a 74-69 winner over Eastern in the other semifinal in a rematch of last year&#8217;s championship. The winner of that game earns an automatic berth to the NCAA Division III tournament.</p><p>The Cougars, who entered as the No. 4 seed, also won last year&#8217;s title from a similar position.</p><p>&#8220;I think what happened was, us not playing well most of the year made us tough,&#8221; Cougars coach Willie Chandler said. &#8220;I feel that we can outscore anyone, but tonight we played great defense. We shut (Marcus) Robinson down, and Tre&#8217; did a great job on him. That was our plan. We wanted other people to score and not let Robinson get the open shots like he did the first time we played them.&#8221;</p><p>Really, it was setting itself up as a last-possession game. Neither team could break away. Wilkes had a six-point lead in the opening minutes, and Misericordia answered back to tie it up. The Cougars then used a mini-spurt to gain some breathing room at 26-21, only to see Rob Pecorelli and Mark Mullins dropped buckets to trim the deficit to 32-31 at the break.</p><p>But in the final 12 minutes, Misericordia&#8217;s experience shined the brightest. And the bucket on the Colonels&#8217; side seemingly had a hard, medal lid that couldn&#8217;t be broken.</p><p>Tommy Bowen&#8217;s baseline jumper gave Wilkes a 44-40 lead with 12:55 left, but it was the last field goal for coach Izzi Metz&#8217;s club for nearly a four-minute stretch.</p><p>And from that point forward, it was all Chandler&#8217;s group.</p><p>Stone McCreary dropped a huge trifecta from the left wing, and Kenny exploded &#8211; beating defenders to the basket on three straight possessions. Added up, it spelled a 23-7 run over a nine-minute stretch as the Cougars grabbed a 63-51 advantage with 3:50 left.</p><p>Wilkes, which swept the regular-season series, went cold beyond the arc &#8211; connecting on just 3 of 18 from 3-point land.</p><p>&#8220;Offensively, when you are not able to score, it puts a lot of pressure on the defense,&#8221; Metz said. &#8220;I thought we started the second half all right, and we made some shots. I think they just met us at the rim, and we didn&#8217;t finish plays. We had some really good looks, and they just didn&#8217;t fall. That&#8217;s basketball, and sometimes shots don&#8217;t fall. You&#8217;d like them to fall in a playoff game, and they just didn&#8217;t.&#8221;</p><p>Of course, credit that to a suffocating Cougars defense, which had allowed 86 and 85 points to Wilkes in the regular season.</p><p>And no one person emphasized that defensive pressure like Fields. He stripped a Colonel under the basket on one possession, and two minutes later, blocked a 3-pointer while running back in transition.</p><p>Playing without injured point guard Connor Evans, Wilkes managed just 58 points, the second-lowest offensive output of the season. The previous low was 52, but that was in a victory over Scranton in the team&#8217;s fifth game.</p><p>&#8220;That&#8217;s the experience. We&#8217;ve been here before,&#8221; Chandler said. &#8220;Last year, we played in some hostile environments. We played at Eastern in the semifinals and Ramapo for the NCAA tournament, which was the craziest crowd I&#8217;ve been part of. These guys are just ready to defend our title, and that was our goal from the start.&#8221;</p><p>Kenny, who led the Freedom with 20 points a night, hit 9 of 17 for 29 points, while Tony Harding and Noah Rivera combined for 31 points.</p><p>Pecorelli (16), Mullins (18) and Zach Brunner (12) accounted for 46 of the Colonels&#8217; 58 points.</p><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Freedom Conference semifinals</strong></p><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>Misericordia 72, Wilkes 58</strong></p><p><strong>MISERICORDIA (72)</strong> &#8212; Alec Rodway 1 0-0 2, Tre&#8217; Fields 2 3-4 7, Jason Kenny 9 9-10 29, Tony Harding 4 5-8 15, Noah Rivera 5 6-8 16, Tyerell Mann 0 0-0 0, Patrick Douthit 0 0-0 0, Stone McCreary 1 0-1 3. <strong>Totals 22 23-31 72.</strong></p><p><strong>WILKES (58)</strong> &#8212; Landon Henry 0 0-0 0, Marcus Robinson 2 2-2 7, Rob Pecorelli 7 0-0 16, Mark Mullins 8 2-2 18, Zach Brunner 6 0-0 12, Tommy Bowen 2 0-0 4, Jack Bova 0 0-0 0, Clay Basalyga 0 0-0 0, Mason Gross 0 1-2 1. <strong>Totals 25 5-6 58.</strong></p><p><strong>Halftime</strong> &#8212; Misericordia, 32-31</p><p><strong>Three-point goals</strong> &#8212; MU 5 (Kenny 2, Harding 2, McCreary); WU 3 (Pecorelli 2, Robinson)</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Rob Pecorelli hits a lay-up for two of his 16 points for Wilkes on Wednesday. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/web1_Wilkes-Miseri-1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Rob Pecorelli hits a lay-up for two of his 16 points for Wilkes on Wednesday. </caption0><photoCredit0>Tony Callaio | For Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/web1_Wilkes-Miseri-2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Mark Mullins pumped in a game-high 18-points for the Colonels against Misericordia. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/web1_Wilkes-Miseri-2.jpg</photo1><caption1>Mark Mullins pumped in a game-high 18-points for the Colonels against Misericordia. </caption1><photoCredit1>Tony Callaio | For Times Leader </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/web1_Wilkes-Miseri-5.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Misericordia&#8217;s Jason Kenny drives the lane for two of his 18 second-half points, finishing the night with 29 against Wilkes. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/web1_Wilkes-Miseri-5.jpg</photo2><caption2>Misericordia&#8217;s Jason Kenny drives the lane for two of his 18 second-half points, finishing the night with 29 against Wilkes. </caption2><photoCredit2>Tony Callaio | For Times Leader </photoCredit2></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/web1_Wilkes-Miseri-4.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Tony Harding passes the ball to Cougars teammate Tre Fields. Harding had 15-points on the night. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo3>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/web1_Wilkes-Miseri-4.jpg</photo3><caption3>Tony Harding passes the ball to Cougars teammate Tre Fields. Harding had 15-points on the night. </caption3><photoCredit3>Tony Callaio | For Times Leader </photoCredit3></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/web1_Wilkes-Miseri-3.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Misericordia&#8217;s Noah Rivera looks for an outlet against Wilkes&#8217; Landon Henry during Wednesday&#8217;s semifinal victory over the Colonels at the Marts Center. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo4>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/web1_Wilkes-Miseri-3.jpg</photo4><caption4>Misericordia&#8217;s Noah Rivera looks for an outlet against Wilkes&#8217; Landon Henry during Wednesday&#8217;s semifinal victory over the Colonels at the Marts Center. </caption4><photoCredit4>Tony Callaio | For Times Leader </photoCredit4></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Tom Fox</p><p>For Times Leader</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Times Leader sports at 570-829-7143 or on Twitter @TLsports</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Defensive effort fuels Misericordia hoops past Wilkes in conference semifinals