News Release

SCRANTON, Pa. — ROYAL RALLY FALLS SHORT IN HOME OPENER AGAINST CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY SATURDAY AT THE LONG CENTER, 71-61; BIAGIOLI COMES OFF BENCH WITH ANOTHER SOLID PERFORMANCE BY LEADING ROYALS WITH 14 POINTS

SCRANTON, Pa.—The University of Scranton overcame a 16-point second-half deficit and took a short-lived one-point lead with five minutes remaining, but Catholic University held its composure down the stretch en route to a 71-61 victory Saturday afternoon at the John J. Long, S.J., Center.

Senior forward Scott Fumai (Rockville, Md./Good Counsel) led the Cardinals, now 4-0, with a game-high 20 points and freshman guard Jeff Sparrow (Reading, Pa./Daniel Boone) and senior guard Steven Papageorge (Annandale, Va./Falls Church) added 12 and 10 points, respectively. Senior forward Patrick Dwyer (Williamsburg, Va./Walsingham Academy) contributed eight points, nine rebounds and three assists for Catholic, which shot 45.5 percent from the field in the first-half to build up a 35-23 lead by intermission.

For the second straight game, the Royals, now 1-1, got a big lift from sophomore forward Paul Biagioli (Waverly, Pa./Abington Heights), who came off the bench to score 14 points on six of 10 shooting from the field and added three assists in 25 minutes of action. Scranton, which shook off a 10-for-31 shooting effort in the first-half (32.3) by connecting on 14 of 28 attempts in the second-half (50 percent), also received 12 points, three rebounds and four assists from junior guard Randy Arnold (Doylestown, Pa./Central Bucks West).

After Fumai and Sparrow buried three-pointers early in the second-half to give Catholic a 41-25 lead, Biagioli brought the Royals back by scoring eight points during a 21-10 run to cut Catholic’s lead to five, 51-46, with nine minutes remaining. Sophomore forward Paul Hawk (Audubon, Pa./Methacton) kept the momentum going in Scranton’s favor by sandwiching a pair of 3-pointers around an Arnold lay-up as the Royals cut the lead to one, 57-56, with 5:37 left.

Following a Cardinal turnover, Scranton took its only lead of the game on a lay-up by Arnold with 4:56 left. Behind back-to-back lay-up by Papageorge, Catholic took over down the stretch by scoring 10 straight points en route to a 67-58 lead with less than a minute remaining. The Royals managed just three points in the final five minutes of play.

Junior center Tom Bicknell (Melbourne, Australia/St. Bede’s College) finished with six points and a game-high 10 rebounds for Scranton, which connected on only 8 of 14 free throw attempts (57.1 percent). Catholic University, which held a commanding 44-26 advantage on the boards, took advantage of the charity stripe by knocking 23 of 30 attempts (73.6 percent).

The Royals will open defense of their Freedom Conference title this Wednesday, November 29, against the Monarchs of King’s College at the Scandlon Gymnasium in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, beginning at 8:00 p.m.

CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY (4-0)
Scott Fumai 5-13 7-8 20; Jeff Sparrow 3-5 5-7 12; Steven Papageorge 4-8 2-3 10; Patrick Dwyer 3-9 2-4 8; Mike Wasilenko 2-7 4-4 8; Stephen Wheeler 3-6 1-2 7; Danny Quinn 2-3 0-0 4; Sean Stolzenthaler 0-1 2-2 2; Matt Fazzini 0-0 0-0 0; Nick Olivero 0-0 0-0 0; Kurt Reinhold 0-0 0-0 0; Brendan Hager 0-0
0-0 0. Totals 22-52 23-30 71.

THE UNIVERSITY OF SCRANTON (1-1)
Biagioli, Paul 6-10 1-2 14; Arnold, Randy 6-15 0-0 12; Hawk, Paul 3-10 1-3 9; FitzPatrick, Ryan 3-7 2-2 9; Bicknell, Tom 2-5 2-3 6; Powell, James 2-40-2 4; Cannon, Darren 1-3 0-0 3; Kreuter, Mike 1-4 0-0 2; O'Connell, Dan 0-0 2-2 2; Kirk, Ryan 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 24-59 8-14 61.

Catholic University...........   35   36  -   71
The University of Scranton....   23   38  -   61
 
3-point goals-Catholic University 4-14 (Scott Fumai 3-6; Jeff Sparrow 1-2; Patrick Dwyer 0-3; Mike Wasilenko 0-2; Steven Papageorge 0-1), The University of Scranton 5-17 (Hawk, Paul 2-4; Cannon, Darren 1-3;
FitzPatrick, Ryan 1-4; Biagioli, Paul 1-3; Kirk, Ryan 0-1; Powell, James 0-1; Arnold, Randy 0-1). Fouled out--Catholic University-Patrick Dwyer, The University of Scranton-None. Rebounds-Catholic University 44 (Patrick Dwyer 9), The University of Scranton 26 (Bicknell, Tom 10). Assists-Catholic
University 14 (Mike Wasilenko 5), The University of Scranton 14 (Arnold, Randy 4). Total fouls-Catholic University 15, The University of Scranton 21. A-450