Sophomore forward Paul Biagioli (Waverly, Pa./Abington Heights) and junior center Tom Bicknell (Melbourne, Australia/St. Bede’s College) added 14 points apiece and junior guard Randy Arnold (Doylestown, Pa./Central Bucks West) contributed 12 points as the Royals improved to 17-5 overall and 8-3 in the Freedom Conference. Sophomore forward Steve Kline (Bridgewater, N.J./Bridgewater-Raritan) and freshman guard/forward Tom Kresge (Brodheadsville, Pa./Pleasant Valley) combined for 34 points and 17 rebounds for Wilkes, now 10-10 overall and 2-9 in league play.
Tied 18-18 midway through the first-half, FitzPatrick sparked a 22-11 rally by drilling three consecutive 3-pointers as the Royals jumped out to a 40-29 lead by intermission. FitzPatrick finished with 12 points and Biagioli added eight as Scranton shot 52.0 percent in the first-half. Wilkes, which snot nearly 48 percent in the opening 20 minutes of play, was led by Kline with eight points and six rebounds and freshman forward Anthony Gabriel (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Trinity) contributed seven points.
Colonel junior guard Matt Gould (Brodheadsville, Pa./Pleasant Valley) keyed an early second-half rally with five points as Wilkes cut the deficit to seven on two occasions, the last of which came with 17:00 minutes remaining. Biagioli and freshman guard Dan O’Connell (Somers, N.Y./Kennedy Catholic) scored five points apiece, senior guard Darren Cannon (Paupack, Pa./Wallenpaupack Area) drained a 3-pointer, and FitzPatrick buried a jump shot to cap off a 14-5 spurt over the next eight minutes as Scranton extended its lead to 16, 59-43, with 9:35 left.
Wilkes cut the lead to 10 twice more before the Royals took put the game away by drilling 10 free throws in the final 2:34. For the game, Scranton connected on 20 of 21 free throw attempts (95.2 percent) and shot 55.1 percent (27 of 49) from the field. Bicknell finished with a game-high 11 rebounds for his 10th ‘double-double’ of the season and the 17th of his career.
FitzPatrick’s previous career-high of 22 points came in a 84-68 victory over Delaware Valley College in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, on January 24. The victory was also career win number 99 for sixth-year University of Scranton head coach Carl Danzig.
The Royals will host the Aggies of Delaware Valley College in Freedom Conference action beginning at 3:00 p.m. at the Long Center.
UNIVERSITY OF SCRANTON (17-5/8-3 Freedom) FitzPatrick, Ryan 6-9 6-6 22; Bicknell, Tom 5-6 4-5 14; Biagioli, Paul 7-13 0-0 14; Arnold, Randy 3-5 6-6 12; O'Connell, Dan 2-3 2-2 7; Cannon, Darren 2-5 0-0 6; Hawk, Paul 2-5 2-2 6; Powell, James 0-2 0-0 0; Fuller, Brendan 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 27-49 20-21 81. WILKES UNIVERSITY (10-10/2-9 Freedom) Steve Kline 5-9 6-9 17; Tom Kresge 5-10 5-7 17; Anthony Gabriel 2-8 2-4 7; Matt Gould 3-5 0-0 7; Chris Gulla 1-4 4-6 6; Guy Fasciana 1-2 2-3 5; Dan Adams 2-5 0-2 4; Jeremy Kable 0-6 2-2 2; John DeFeo 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 19-49 21-33 65. University of Scranton........ 40 41 - 81 Wilkes University............. 29 36 - 65 3-point goals-University of Scranton 7-18 (FitzPatrick, Ryan 4-5; Cannon, Darren 2-5; O'Connell, Dan 1-1; Arnold, Randy 0-1; Hawk, Paul 0-3; Fuller, Brendan 0-1; Biagioli, Paul 0-2), Wilkes University 6-21 (Tom Kresge 2-4; Guy Fasciana 1-1; Matt Gould 1-3; Steve Kline 1-3; Anthony Gabriel 1-4; Jeremy Kable 0-5; Chris Gulla 0-1). Fouled out--University of Scranton-Biagioli, Paul; Hawk, Paul, Wilkes University-Anthony Gabriel; Matt Gould. Rebounds-University of Scranton 25 (Bicknell, Tom 11), Wilkes University 33 (Tom Kresge 9). Assists-University of Scranton 15 (Arnold, Randy 4; Hawk, Paul 4), Wilkes University 9 (Dan Adams 3). Total fouls-University of Scranton 25, Wilkes University 21. A-600