News Release

ONEONTA, NY — Junior guard Randy Arnold (Doylestown, Pa./Central Bucks West) scored 17 of his season-high 24 points in the second-half to lift The University of Scranton past Hartwick College, 85-61, in non-conference action Tuesday evening at the Binder Physical Education Center.

Sophomore forward Paul Biagioli (Waverly, Pa./Abington Heights) chipped in 13 points and sophomore forward Brendan Fuller (Alexandria, Va./Bishop Ireton) came off the bench to score a career-high 11 points in 16 minutes of action as the Royals won their eighth straight game to improve to 9-2. Sophomore guard Jan Cocozziello (Scotch Plains, N.J./Westfield) led the Hawks, who had a three-game winning streak snapped and fell to 7-3, with 15 points.

Arnold broke the game open by scoring 12 points during a 23-9 run in the opening eight minutes of the second-half as Scranton extended a 37-29 halftime lead into a 22-point cushion, 60-38. The Royals’ largest lead was 34 points.

The game was tied four times in the opening 20 minutes of play before sophomore forward Paul Hawk (Audubon, Pa./Methacton) sparked a 22-14 rally by scoring nine points over a nine-minute span to give the Royals’ an eight-point halftime lead. Cocozziello and sophomore forward Albe Hulick (Greenville, N.Y./Greenville) combined for 15 first-half points to keep the Hawks within striking distance.

The Royals connected on 16 of 24 field goal attempts (66.7 percent) in the second-half, including 7 of 8 (87.5 percent) from beyond the 3-point arc, en route to shooting a season-high 56.4 percent from the field. After shooting a respectable 43.5 percent in the first-half, the Hawks made only 11 of 33 field goal attempts (33.3 percent) in the second-half to finish 37.5 percent for the game. Defensively, Scranton has held six of its last eight opponents to less than 40 percent shooting from the field.

Arnold’s 24-point effort eclipses his previous season-high of 16 points against Denison in the opening round of the DIII Desert Shootout on Tuesday, December 19, in Las Vegas and is only three points shy of his career-high of 27 against Lycoming College on November 30, 2005. Fuller’s previous career-high was a five-point effort on two separate occasions.

The Royals will host Pratt Institute in the opening round of the Radisson Invitational this Saturday, January 6, beginning at 7:00 p.m. at the Long Center. The other semifinal match-up will feature Morrisville State College against Susquehanna University at 5:00 p.m.

THE UNIVERSITY OF SCRANTON (9-2)
Arnold, Randy 9-15 5-7 24; Biagioli, Paul 4-5 3-4 13; Fuller, Brendan 4-4 0-0 11; Bicknell, Tom 4-10 1-1 9; Hawk, Paul 4-7 0-0 9; O'Connell, Dan 1-2 2-2 5; FitzPatrick, Ryan 2-4 0-0 5; Powell, James 1-3 2-2 4; Cannon, Darren 1-2 0-0 3; Alfier, Joe 1-1 0-0 2; Londo, Eli 0-0 0-0 0; Osborne, Chris 0-2
0-1 0. Totals 31-55 13-17 85.

HARTWICK (7-3)
Jan Cocozziello 7-17 3-3 17; Ramond Doyley 3-9 3-3 9; Greg Bankowski 3-5 1-2 7; Albe Hulick 1-5 4-4 7; Luigi Lanzi 2-5 2-3 7; Kyle Phillips 1-1 2-2 4; Tristan Connolly 2-2 0-0 4; Pat Dunnigan 2-4 0-0 4; Mike Tracy 0-2 2-2 2; James Mantas 0-0 0-0 0; Darrell Howard 0-2 0-0 0; Mike Agostinoni 0-4 0-0 0.  Totals 21-56 17-19 61.

The University of Scranton....    37   48  -   85
Hartwick......................    29   32  -    61

3-point goals-The University of Scranton 10-15 (Fuller, Brendan 3-3; Biagioli, Paul 2-2; O'Connell, Dan 1-1; Hawk, Paul 1-2; FitzPatrick, Ryan 1-2; Cannon, Darren 1-2; Arnold, Randy 1-3), Hartwick 2-11 (Albe Hulick 1-2; Luigi Lanzi 1-2; Mike Tracy 0-1; Mike Agostinoni 0-3; Jan Cocozziello 0-3).  Fouled out--The University of Scranton-None, Hartwick-None. Rebounds-The University of Scranton 31 (Hawk, Paul 8), Hartwick 30 (Ramond Doyley 8). Assists-The University of Scranton 16 (Arnold, Randy 4; Cannon, Darren 4), Hartwick 9 (Mike Agostinoni 6). Total fouls-The University of Scranton 17,
Hartwick 13. A-178