DALLAS, Pa.—Junior forward Bill Burke and sophomore guard Darren Cannon scored 19 points apiece and senior forward Brian O’Donnell contributed 18 points and 11 rebounds to lead The University of Scranton to a 75-57 victory over College Misericordia Sunday afternoon at the Anderson Center.
Freshman point-guard Randy Arnold added 11 points as the Royals extended their season-long winning streak to four and improve to 6-2 overall. Andre Little led the Cougars, now 4-6, with a game-high 22 points.
Burke, who tied his career-high in points and also pulled down eight rebounds, got the Royals rolling early by scoring eight points in the opening nine minutes of play as Scranton opened up an early 11-point lead, 23-12. He finished with 10 points and five rebounds as the Royals settled for a 35-27 lead by intermission. Little kept the Cougars within striking distance by scoring nine first-half points.
O’Donnell sparked a 12-2 run in the opening four minutes of the second-half by scoring six points to increase Scranton’s lead to 18, 47-29. Misericordia cut the gap to 11 three times in the second-half, the last of which came on a layup by Little with 10:13 left, before Cannon and Burke combined for 9 points during a 10-2 spurt to push Scranton’s lead back up to 18 points, 63-45, with 7:33 left. The closest the Cougars got the rest of the way was 14 points.
Scranton connected on 17 of 31 field goal attempts (54.8 percent) in the second-half to finish 47.6 percent for the game and held a 40-30 rebounding advantage. O’Donnell’s ‘double-double’ in points and rebounds was his fifth of the season and the 34th of his career. He also moved ahead of Tom Keefe (769 rebounds, 1952-1955) and Derek Elphick (772 rebounds, 1999-2003) into sixth-place on the Scranton all-time rebounding list with 774.
Cannon, who connected on 8 of 13 shots from the field, has now scored in double figures in seven of eight games this year. The Royals will return to action on Sunday, January 2, against the University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez in the Bahamas.
THE UNIVERSITY OF SCRANTON (6-2) Bill Burke 8-13 2-3 19; Darren Cannon 8-13 2-2 19; Brian O'Donnell 8-14 2-3 18; Randy Arnold 2-9 7-8 11; Patrick Clabby 3-5 0-0 6; Justin Freid 1-5 0-0 2; Nick Alfier 0-3 0-0 0; Victor Agapay 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 30-63 13-16 75. COLLEGE MISERICORDIA (4-6) Andre Little 8-15 6-7 22; Corey Brown 4-6 1-2 9; Josh Kendrick 3-10 0-0 6; Tony Rezykowski 2-4 0-0 6; Michael Morak 2-4 0-2 5; Andrew Ruiz 2-6 1-3 5; Joshua McCabe 1-6 1-2 4; Ray Lenhart 0-2 0-0 0; Eddie Ryan 0-2 0-0 0; Tony White 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 22-56 9-16 57. The University of Scranton........ 35 40 - 75 College Misericordia.......... 27 30 - 57 3-point goals-University of Scranton 2-14 (Bill Burke 1-2; Darren Cannon 1-4; Randy Arnold 0-4; Nick Alfier 0-3; Brian O'Donnell 0-1), College Misericordia 4-16 (Tony Rezykowski 2-3; Michael Morak 1-3; Joshua McCabe 1-4; Ray Lenhart 0-1; Tony White 0-1; Josh Kendrick 0-3; Andre Little 0-1). Fouled out--University of Scranton-None, College Misericordia-None. Rebounds-University of Scranton 40 (Brian O'Donnell 11), College Misericordia 30 (Josh Kendrick 9). Assists-University of Scranton 16 (Brian O'Donnell 4; Darren Cannon 4), College Misericordia 9 (Andre Little 3). Total fouls-University of Scranton 18, College Misericordia 17. A-500