News Release

Scranton, Pa. — O’DONNELL TIES CAREER HIGH WITH 28 POINTS AND BURKE ADDS 12 POINTS AND 13 REBOUNDS AS ROYALS WIN 1ST FREEDOM CONFERENCE GAME OF THE SEASON BY DOWNING DELAWARE VALLEY, 81-69, AT THE LONG CENTER

SCRANTON, Pa.—Junior forward Brian O’Donnell (Mahopac, N.Y./John F. Kennedy) connected on 10 of 14 shots from the field to tie his career high with 28 points as The University of Scranton won its first Freedom Conference game of the season, an 81-69 decision over Delaware Valley College Wednesday evening at the John J. Long, S.J., Center.

O’Donnell also pulled down 11 rebounds to surpass Bob Bessoir (603 rebounds, 1951-1955) for 11th place on the Royals’ all-time list with 610. Scranton, now 3-15 overall and 1-6 in the Freedom Conference, also received 13 points from freshman guard Sean Clark (Spring Lake Heights, N.J./St. Rose), which tied his season-high, and 12 points and 13 rebounds from sophomore forward Bill Burke (West Pittston, Pa./Seton Catholic). Junior forward Erik Tegethoff (Clifton Heights, Pa./Upper Darby) led Delaware Valley, now 3-14 overall and 2-5 in the Freedom Conference, with 20 points and Mike Zupa (Dumont, N.J./Dumont) and Isaiah Pinkney (Philadelphia, Pa./Bishop McDevitt) added 15 and 13, respectively.

O’Donnell, who scored 14 first-half points as the Royals settled for a 42-36 lead by intermission, scored eight straight points as Scranton went on a 12-4 run to take a 52-40 lead with 14:18 remaining. The Aggies cut the margin to nine, 59-50, before the Royals countered with a 16-5 rally to extend the lead to 20, 77-57, with 3:04 left. The final score was the closest Delaware Valley would get the rest of the way.

The Royals shot 56 percent from the field (14 of 25) in the second half to finish 48.2 percent for the game and held a 48-27 advantage on the boards. The Aggies converted only 24 of 66 field goal attempts (36.4 percent).

O’Donnell’s ‘double-double’ was his 7th of the season and the 24th of his career. Earlier this year, he scored a then career-high 28 points in a 66-62 loss to the United States Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point, New York, on January 8. Burke’s ‘double-double’ was his third of the year.

The Royals will host FDU-Florham in Freedom Conference action this Saturday, January 31, beginning at 3:00 p.m. in the Long Center.

Editor’s Note: Bob Bessoir’s career rebounding totals do not include any statistics from his freshman and junior years. Those statistics are missing.

DELAWARE VALLEY (3-14/2-5 Freedom)
Erik Tegethoff 8-21 1-2 20; Mike Zupa 3-6 6-6 15; Isaiah Pinckney 6-12 0-1 13; Javon Alston 4-7 3-4 11; Sean Smith 3-5 0-0 7; Mike Thornton 0-12 2-2 2; James Avant 0-2 1-2 1; Shea Mealia 0-1 0-0 0. 
Totals 24-66 13-17 69.

THE UNIVERSITY OF SCRANTON (3-15/1-6 Freedom)
Brian O'Donnell 10-14 8-14 28; Sean Clark 3-9 5-6 13; Bill Burke 4-5 4-5 12; Mike McGowan 3-7 2-2 9; Justin Freid 2-4 2-2 6; Matthew Snyder 2-4 0-0 5; Michael Riccobono 1-3 2-2 4; Nick Alfier 1-5 0-0 2; Patrick Clabby 1-4 0-0 2; Thomas Gangemi 0-1 0-2 0. Totals 27-56 23-33 81.

Delaware Valley...............   36   33  -   69
University of Scranton........   42   39  -   81

3-point goals-Delaware Valley 8-27 (Mike Zupa 3-6; Erik Tegethoff 3-8;Isaiah Pinckney 1-4; Sean Smith 1-2; James Avant 0-1; Mike Thornton 0-6), University of Scranton 4-18 (Sean Clark 2-6; Matthew Snyder 1-3; Mike
McGowan 1-3; Nick Alfier 0-3; Patrick Clabby 0-1; Thomas Gangemi 0-1; Brian O'Donnell 0-1). Fouled out--Delaware Valley-Sean Smith, University of Scranton-None. Rebounds-Delaware Valley 27 (Erik Tegethoff 7), University of Scranton 48 (Bill Burke 13). Assists-Delaware Valley 13 (Javon Alston 4), University of Scranton 18 (Brian O'Donnell 5; Michael Riccobono 5). Total fouls-Delaware Valley 23, University of Scranton 14. A-450