News Release

SCRANTON, Pa. — The University of Scranton overcame a sluggish start and built up an 8-point second-half lead before committing four costly turnovers late in the second-half en route to a 79-66 loss to Susquehanna University in the championship game of the Radisson Invitational Sunday afternoon at the Long Center.

Tournament MVP and junior forward Kevin Cuff (Pottsville, Pa./Nativity BVM) led the Crusaders, with 25 points and 13 rebounds, sophomore forward Joel Patch (Conklin, N.Y./Susquehanna Valley) added 19 points, nine rebounds and three assists, and all-tournament selection Bryan Majors (Harrisburg, Pa./Harrisburg) contributed 13 points, six rebounds, six assists and four steals.

Scranton, which had a nine-game winning streak snapped to fall to 10-3, was led by junior guard Randy Arnold (Doylestown, Pa./Central Bucks West) with 14 points and all-tournament selection Tom Bicknell (Melbourne, Australia/St. Bede’s College) posted his second straight ‘double-double’ with 13 points and 10 rebounds.

Radisson Invitational All-Tournament Team
Darnell Jones-Bey – Pratt Institute
Dodrick Spencer – Morrisville State
Tom Bicknell – Scranton
Bryan Majors – Susquehanna
Kevin Cuff – Susquehanna (MVP)

Susquehanna made six of its first seven shot attempts en route to jumping out to a 15-3 lead in the opening four minutes of play. Behind the inspired play of junior guard James Powell (Miami, Fla./Palmetto) off the bench, the Royals finally got untracked and battled back to cut the deficit to 32-26 by intermission. Bicknell scored eight points in the first-half and Powell contributed four assists, two points, two steals and block in 12 minutes of action. Cuff led the Crusaders with 12 points in the opening 20 minutes of play.

There were four ties and six lead changes in the second-half Tied 46-46 with 9:55 remaining, the Royals got a big lift from freshman guard Dan O’Connell (Somers, N.Y./Kennedy Catholic), who hit two free throws and a 3-pointer during a 9-1 spurt to give Scranton a 55-47 lead with 7:38 left.

The Crusaders then took advantage of Scranton’s inability to take care of the basketball and answered with a 19-1 run to regain the lead for good, 66-56, with 2:05 remaining. Majors and Cuff combined for 11 points during the key spurt. The closest the Royals would get the rest of the way was eight points.

Susquehanna, the 2004 Radisson Invitational champions, connected on 28 of 36 free throws attempts (77.8 percent) and held a 38-31 rebounding advantage. The Crusaders played without leading scorer Josh Robinson, a junior guard who entered this weekend’s tournament averaging 25 points a game.

O’Connell finished with 10 points, which tied his previous season-high of 10 points in yesterday’s 104-46 victory over Pratt Institute. The Royals shot 44.8 percent from the field to offset an 11-for-33 effort (33.3 percent) in the first-half.

In the 3rd-place game, Morrisville State, behind a game-high 24 points by all-tournament selection Dodrick Spencer (Brooklyn, N.Y./William E. Grady), defeated Pratt Institute, 81-65. All-tournament selection Darnell Jones-Bey (Orange, N.J.) led Pratt Institute with 23 points and nine rebounds.

SUSQUEHANNA (9-4)
Kevin Cuff 7-12 6-6 25; Joel Patch 5-12 9-10 19; Bryan Majors 4-8 5-8 13; Zac Smith 3-6 4-4 10; Brad Okonak 1-4 2-4 5; Matt McDevitt 1-1 1-2 4; Brandon Andersen 1-4 1-2 3; Sam Thomas 0-1 0-0 0; Chad Cohle 0-0 0-0 0; Andy Gaebel 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 22-49 28-36 79.

THE UNIVERSITY OF SCRANTON (10-3)
Arnold, Randy 5-13 4-6 14; Bicknell, Tom 6-12 1-4 13; O'Connell, Dan 2-3 4-4 10; Hawk, Paul 3-7 0-0 9; Biagioli, Paul 2-11 2-2 7; Powell, James 3-8 0-0 6; FitzPatrick, Ryan 2-6 0-0 5; Fuller, Brendan 1-2 0-0 2; Cannon, Darren 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-62 11-16 66.

Susquehanna...................   32   47  -   79
University of Scranton........   26   40  -   66

3-point goals-Susquehanna 7-15 (Kevin Cuff 5-6; Brad Okonak 1-3; Matt McDevitt 1-1; Zac Smith 0-2; Andy Gaebel 0-1; Bryan Majors 0-2), University of Scranton 7-17 (Hawk, Paul 3-6; O'Connell, Dan 2-3; Biagioli, Paul 1-3; FitzPatrick, Ryan 1-2; Powell, James 0-2; Arnold, Randy 0-1). Fouled out--Susquehanna-None, University of Scranton-FitzPatrick, Ryan; Hawk, Paul. Rebounds-Susquehanna 38 (Kevin Cuff 13), University of Scranton 31 (Bicknell, Tom 10). Assists-Susquehanna 16 (Bryan Majors 6), University of Scranton 18 (Powell, James 5). Total fouls-Susquehanna 18, University ofScranton 24. A-450