The sophomore trio of Paul Biagioli (Waverly, Pa./Abington Heights), Ryan FitzPatrick (Berwyn, Pa./Conestoga) and Paul Hawk (Audubon, Pa./Methacton) combined for 43 points to lift The University of Scranton to a 57-48 victory over College Misericordia Tuesday evening at the Anderson Center.
Biagioli came off the bench to score six of his career-high 15 points in the first-half as the Royals fought back from an early 7-0 deficit to take a two-point lead by intermission, 21-19, despite shooting less than 21 percent from the field. FitzPatrick took over from there, scoring 10 of his 15 points in the second-half, and Hawk finished with 13 points and eight rebounds as the Royals improved to 1-0.
Sophomore forward Vinney Baumunk (Dushore, Pa./Sullivan County) led the Cougars, now 1-2, with a game-high 24 points by connecting on 11 of 13 field goal attempts and junior guard Ryan Roa (Matamoras, Pa./Delaware Valley) added 10 points.
The lead changes hands twice in the second-half before FitzPatrick hit a 3-pointer and Hawk answered with back-to-back baskets to give Scranton a five-point lead, 31-26, with 14:21 left. The Cougars continued to whittle away at the Royal lead and trailed by only four, 40-36, with nine minutes remaining.
Biagioli and FitzPatrick then combined for seven points during a 9-2 spurt over the next five minutes as Scranton took its first significant lead, 49-38, with 4:12 left. The Royals’ extended the lead to 14, 52-38, with 2:12 remaining on two free throws by FitzPatrick.
Biagioli’s previous career-high was a 14-point effort in a 68-51 victory over Cabrini College on January 16, 2006, at the Long Center.
Despite going 0-for-11 from the field and finishing with only five points, junior point-guard Randy Arnold (Doylestown, Pa./Central Bucks West) did manage to pull down a career-high 10 rebounds and hand out two assists in 35 minutes of action. Royal junior center Tom Bicknell (Melbourne, Australia/St. Bede’s Collegiate) also struggled on the offensive end with four points but did manage nine boards to help Scranton out-rebound the Cougars, 45-35.
Scranton shot 42.3 percent from the field in the second-half to finish 30.9 percent for the game. College Misericordia continued its early season struggle at the free throw line by connecting on just seven of 13 attempts from the charity stripe. (53.8 percent)
The Royals will open their home schedule this Saturday, November 25, against future Landmark Conference member Catholic University beginning at 4:00 p.m. at the Long Center.
THE UNIVERSITY OF SCRANTON (1-0) FitzPatrick, Ryan 5-10 1-3 15; Biagioli, Paul 5-8 3-5 15; Hawk, Paul 5-8 3-6 13; Arnold, Randy 0-11 5-6 5; Bicknell, Tom 1-4 2-2 4; Powell, James 1-4 0-1 2; Cannon, Darren 0-5 2-2 2; Kirk, Ryan 0-4 1-2 1; O'Connell, Dan 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 17-55 17-27 57. MISERICORDIA (1-2) Baumunk, Vinny 11-13 1-4 24; Roa, Ryan 2-6 4-4 10; Little, Marcus 2-4 2-4 6; Hornak, Matthew 2-6 0-0 5; McCabe, Josh 1-3 0-0 3; Donegan, Evan 0-0 0-0 0; Ruiz, Andrew 0-1 0-0 0; Smith, Andy 0-0 0-0 0; Hunter, Marqus 0-3 0-0 0; Del Prete, Dominick 0-5 0-1 0; Rezykowski, Tony 0-7 0-0 0. Totals 18-48 7-13 48. The University of Scranton.... 21 36 - 57 Misericordia.................. 19 29 - 48 3-point goals-The University of Scranton 6-25 (FitzPatrick, Ryan 4-7; Biagioli, Paul 2-4; Arnold, Randy 0-3; Cannon, Darren 0-4; Kirk, Ryan 0-4; O'Connell, Dan 0-1; Hawk, Paul 0-2), Misericordia 5-16 (Roa, Ryan 2-4; Hornak, Matthew 1-3; Baumunk, Vinny 1-2; McCabe, Josh 1-2; Rezykowski, Tony 0-3; Little, Marcus 0-2). Fouled out--The University of Scranton-Powell, James, Misericordia-Rezykowski, Tony. Rebounds-The University of Scranton 45 (Arnold, Randy 10), Misericordia 35 (Hornak, Matthew 13). Assists-The University of Scranton 9 (Kirk, Ryan 3), Misericordia 15 (Rezykowski, Tony 5). Total fouls-The University of Scranton 20, Misericordia 24.