SCRANTON, Pa.—Sophomore guard Mike McGowan scored a game-high 17 points—all in the second-half—and senior forward Brian O’Donnell added 13 points to lift The University of Scranton to a 68-57 victory over Moravian College in non-conference action Wednesday evening at the Long Center.
Sophomore guard Darren Cannon and sophomore forward Patrick Clabby added 11 points apiece as the Royals broke away from a 26-26 tie at intermission by shooting 46.7 percent from the field in the second half to improve to 4-2. Moravian, which had a two-game winning streak snapped and fell to 2-5, was led by Steve Wenderfer with 14 points and a game and career-high 16 rebounds and Brandon Zaleski added 14 points.
Both teams struggled shooting the basketball in the first-half, as the Royals connected on only 6 of 23 attempts (26.1 percent) while the Greyhounds hit just 10 of 28 (35.7).
Scranton built up an 8-point lead early in the second half before Moravian went on a 13-4 run that was capped off by a 3-pointer by Michael Clemente to give the Greyhounds a 47-46 lead, its last of the game, at the 10-minute mark. McGowan scored 12 points during a 17-8 spurt over the next seven minutes to give Scranton a 62-54 lead with 3:16 left. Wenderfer answered with a pair of free throws to cut the margin to six before the Royals ended the game on a 6-1 run to set the final score.
McGowan tied his career-high by connecting of 7 of 11 shots from the field to go along with seven rebounds and three assists. He and Clabby combined for 26 second-half points.
The Royals will close out a three-game home stand this Saturday, December 11, by hosting the Lions of Albright College beginning at 3:00 p.m. at the Long Center.
MORAVIAN COLLEGE (2-5) Brandon Zaleski 5-13 4-7 14; Steve Wenderfer 5-11 4-5 14; Ed Reid 5-9 1-2 11; Zach Zsilavecz 1-7 5-6 8; Michael Clemente 2-4 0-0 6; Matt Devlin 1-3 0-0 2; Ryan Miller 1-5 0-0 2; Joe Depasquale 0-1 0-0 0; Chris Earley 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 20-54 14-20 57. THE UNIVERSITY OF SCRANTON (4-2) Mike McGowan 7-11 2-3 17; Brian O'Donnell 2-7 8-9 13; Patrick Clabby 2-2 7-7 11; Darren Cannon 4-11 0-1 11; Randy Arnold 3-10 2-4 9; Bill Burke 1-7 3-5 5; Nick Alfier 1-3 0-0 2; Justin Freid 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 20-53 22-29 68. Moravian College.............. 26 31 - 57 University of Scranton........ 26 42 - 68 3-point goals-Moravian College 3-16 (Michael Clemente 2-3; Zach Zsilavecz 1-4; Ed Reid 0-2; Matt Devlin 0-1; Ryan Miller 0-2; Joe Depasquale 0-1; Steve Wenderfer 0-2; Brandon Zaleski 0-1), University of Scranton 6-18 (Darren Cannon 3-6; Mike McGowan 1-3; Brian O'Donnell 1-3; Randy Arnold 1-3; Nick Alfier 0-2; Bill Burke 0-1). Fouled out--Moravian College-Ed Reid, University of Scranton-None. Rebounds-Moravian College 39 (Steve Wenderfer 16), University of Scranton 34 (Mike McGowan 7; Darren Cannon 7). Assists-Moravian College 13 (Chris Earley 4), University of Scranton 13 (Mike McGowan 3). Total fouls-Moravian College 23, University of Scranton18. A-750