WILKES-BARRE, Pa. (January 4, 2017) - The FDU men's basketball team dropped its fifth straight contest, falling 73-59 to Wilkes in the MAC Freedom opener Wednesday.

The Devils drop to 3-8 overall, while Wilkes moves to 7-5. Sophomore Derek Leohner tallied a season-high 24 points with four rebounds, while junior Veon Lassiter added a double-double off the bench with 13 points and 11 rebounds. Wilkes was led by 14 points from Marcus Robinson.

The Colonels led wire-to-wire, scoring the opening nine points of the game. Wilkes drained a three with 5:29 left in the first half to build their biggest lead of the half at 16, but FDU countered with an 11-2 spurt right before the half, trailing by just seven heading into halftime. Leohner had 11 in the first 20, connecting on 3-of-4 from behind the arc.

A layup by senior Donte Ali cut the lead down to just four points five minutes into the second, but Wilkes responded with an 11-2 rally of their own to stretch the advantage back to double-digits. FDU would get no closer than 11 the rest of the way, as the Colonels soared to a 24-14 edge in rebounding in the second stanza.

The Devils will be back in action Saturday, hosting Misericordia in MAC Freedom action at 3 p.m.