News Release

SCRANTON, Pa. — Sophomore forward Paul Hawk (Audubon, Pa./Methacton) scored 19 of his game-high 22 points in the second-half to lift The University of Scranton to an 83-72 victory over Lycoming College in Freedom Conference action Wednesday evening at the Long Center.

The Royals also received 15 points from junior guard Randy Arnold (Doylestown, Pa./Central Bucks West) and 13 points and eight rebounds from junior center Tom Bicknell (Melbourne, Australia/St. Bede’s College) to improve to 11-3 overall and 2-1 in the Freedom Conference. Sophomore guard Jemayne Nowlin (Gaithersburg, Md./Quince Orchard) came off the bench to lead four Warriors in double-figures with 18 points, including five 3-pointers, and junior guard Kevin Morris (Camp Hill, Pa./Trinity) contributed 16 points. The loss drops Lycoming to 7-6 overall and 1-2 in conference action.

Scranton, which connected on 19 of 22 free throw attempts in the second-half (86.4 percent) and 29 of 34 (85.3 percent) for the game, got a big lift from reserves Darren Cannon (Paupack, Pa./Wallenpaupack Area) and James Powell (Miami, Fla./Palmetto), especially in the first-half when Bicknell picked up two quick fouls. Cannon hit two 3-pointers and had three rebounds, two assists and a steal and Powell had four points, two rebounds and an assist as the Royals built up a 37-24 lead by intermission. Junior forward Matt McGair (Mt. Laurel, N.J./Moorestown) scored 11 of his 13 points in the first-half to keep Lycoming within striking distance. The Warriors shot a very respectable 45.5 percent from the field in the opening 20 minutes of play but were guilty of 10 turnovers.

Hawk hit back-to-back 3-pointers to start a 12-10 rally as Scranton extended its lead to 15, 49-34, in the opening six minutes of the second-half. Cannon, Arnold and Hawk each added a 3-pointer during a 15-10 spurt as the Royals pushed the lead to 20, 64-44, with 8:35 remaining. Nowlin, who scored 12 of his 18 points in the second-half, drained three 3-pointers during a 16-4 spurt that was capped off by a 3-pointer by Morris as the Warriors cut the margin to eight, 68-60, with 3:32 left.

With Lycoming forced to foul to stop the clock, the Royals made 12 free throws, including 10 by Hawk, in the final 1:29 to seal the victory.

Scranton shot 52.4 percent from the field, including 71.4 percent from beyond the 3-point arc, in the second-half to finish 48.9 percent for the game. The Warriors were also on fire in the second-half, knocking down 20 of 32 field goal attempts (62.5 percent) to finish 55.6 percent for the game. Junior guard David Wilson (Pottsville, Pa./Pottsville) finished with 14 points, three rebounds and four assists for Lycoming.

Hawk’s 22-point effort was one shy of his career-high of 23 in a 75-69 loss to King’s College on November 29 at the Scandlon Gymnasium in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.

The Royals will take on future Landmark Conference and current Freedom Conference member Drew University this Saturday, January 13, in Madison, New Jersey, beginning at 1:00 p.m.

LYCOMING (7-6/1-2 Freedom)
Jemayne Nowlin 6-11 1-4 18; Kevin Morris 7-13 0-0 16; David Wilson 6-11 1-1 14; Matt McGair 6-7 1-3 13; Greg Sye 3-6 0-0 6; Billy Goodell 1-1 0-0 3; Rickey Varnell 1-3 0-0 2; Anthony Watson 0-2 0-0 0; James Oberlies 0-0 0-0 0; Trevor Whaley 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 30-54 3-8 72.

THE UNIVERSITY OF SCRANTON (11-3/2-1 Freedom)
Hawk, Paul 4-10 11-11 22; Arnold, Randy 4-10 6-7 15; Bicknell, Tom 3-4 7-9 13; Cannon, Darren 3-3 0-0 9; Biagioli, Paul 1-6 5-6 7; FitzPatrick, Ryan 3-5 0-1 6; Powell, James 2-5 0-0 4; Fuller, Brendan 2-3 0-0 4; O'Connell, Dan 1-1 0-0 3; Londo, Eli 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-47 29-34 83.

Lycoming......................   24   48  -   72
University of Scranton........   37   46  -   83

3-point goals-Lycoming 9-19 (Jemayne Nowlin 5-9; Kevin Morris 2-7; Billy Goodell 1-1; David Wilson 1-2), University of Scranton 8-19 (Cannon, Darren 3-3; Hawk, Paul 3-7; Arnold, Randy 1-3; O'Connell, Dan 1-1; Fuller, Brendan 0-1; FitzPatrick, Ryan 0-2; Biagioli, Paul 0-2). Fouled out--Lycoming-Rickey
Varnell; Matt McGair, University of Scranton-None. Rebounds-Lycoming 23 (Matt McGair 7), University of Scranton 31 (Bicknell, Tom 8). Assists-Lycoming 23 (Anthony Watson 5), University of Scranton 15 (Arnold, Randy 4; Cannon, Darren 4). Total fouls-Lycoming 26, University of Scranton 11. A-550