With the win, the Devils improved to 15-6 (7-3 Freedom) while Scranton dropped to 16-5 (7-3 Freedom). The Devils and Royals are now tied for second in the Conference, a game behind first place King’s.
The Devils jumped out to a 10-3 lead in the first three minutes of the game behind five points apiece from Rimol and Dillon. The Royals then took a 19-17 lead with 6:36 to play in the first half before FDU went on a 12-5 run over the next three minutes to take a 29-24 lead with 2:58 left. Sophomore guard Ryan McPherson (West Orange, NJ/West Orange) scored six points during the spurt. Scranton then cut the lead to one point, 29-28, before the Devils scored the last four points of the half to take a 33-28 halftime lead.
FDU came out on a fire to start the second half, immediately getting the lead into double digits, 40-30, just two minutes into the half. The Devils then upped the lead to 54-39 with 12:50 remaining thanks to six points from Emslie. Scranton then went on a 22-9 run to pull to within two points, 63-61, with 3:07 left. Emslie then came down and drilled a three to put FDU back up by five points, 66-61, but Scranton came down two possessions later and hit a three of their own to cut it 66-64 with 1:51 left. That was as close as the Royals would come though as Emslie went 8-of-8 from the foul line and Rimol converted a huge three-point play to give FDU the win.
“I thought today was an extremely hard fought game between two very good basketball teams,” said assistant coach Bill Zotti. “I thought Frank Emslie played a tremendous game today and it’s nice to see seniors step up and make plays in big time games. We still have a lot of work to do but we’re on the right path.”
Senior forward Pierre Schmitt (Park Ridge, NJ/Park Ridge) had seven points and eight rebounds for the Devils. Sophomore forward Paul Biagioli (Waverly, PA/Abington Heights) led Scranton with 15 points and seven rebounds while junior guard Randy Arnold (Doylestown, PA/Central Bucks West) had 15 points and eight assists while sophomore guard Ryan FitzPatrick (Berwyn, PA.Conestoga) also added 15 points.
The Devils return to action on Wednesday, February 7, 2007, at DeSales beginning at 8 pm.