SCRANTON, Pa.—Senior forward Brian O’Donnell scored 24 points and pulled down 10 rebounds—both game-highs—as The University of Scranton defeated Catholic University, 64-49, in its home opener Saturday afternoon at the John J. Long, S.J., Center.
Sophomore guard Mike McGowan added a season-high 16 points and freshman point-guard Randy Arnold had 14 points, five rebounds and two steals as the Royals improved to 2-1 overall and snapped a seven-game series losing streak to the Cardinals. Scranton’s win was its first over Catholic since an 87-82 win on December 7, 1996, at the Long Center. Sophomore guard Steven Papageorge came off the bench to connect on 5 of 7 shots from beyond the 3-point arc to lead the Cardinals, now 2-1, with 16 points and junior center Shane Sowden added 12 points and eight rebounds.
Scranton, which never trailed, was able to scratch out a 25-20 lead by intermission as both teams had trouble finding any kind of continuity on the offense end. McGowan, Arnold and O’Donnell combined for 21 first-half points as the Royals connected on only 9 of 29 field goal attempts (31 percent), while Sowden was one of the few bright spots for Catholic with nine points and three points. The Cardinals, who shot well over 50 percent from the field in their first two games, made just six of 22 shots (27.3 percent) from the field in the first-half.
Catholic closed to within two twice in the second-half, the last of which came on a 3-pointer by Papageorge at the 9:32 mark before McGowan answered with a 3-pointer to push Scranton’s lead back to five, 38-33. After Papageorge brought the Cardinals to within four, 46-42, with 5:18 left, McGowan answered with back-to-back post-up layups and Arnold drained two free throws to give the Royals a 10-point cushion, 52-42, with 3:45 left.
Papageorge hit two more 3-pointers to keep the Cardinals within striking distance, but Scranton made 10 free throws, including four by O’Donnell, in the final two minutes to seal the win. The final score was the largest margin in the game.
O’Donnell’s ‘double-double’ was his third of the season and the 32nd of his career. His 24 points gives him 1,121 for his career, which moves him ahead of Jeff Jones (1,119 points, 1980-1984) for 23rd-place on the Scranton all-time list.
The Royals will open their Freedom Conference schedule this Wednesday, December 1, against Lycoming College at the Lamade Gymnasium in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, beginning at 8:00 p.m.
THE UNIVERSITY OF SCRANTON 64, CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY 49 CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY (2-1) Setven Papageorge 5-8 1-2 16; Shane Sowden 4-7 4-7 12; Pat Satalin 2-12 5-6 10; Patrick Dwyer 2-6 2-4 6; Scott Fumai 1-7 0-0 3; Steve Wheeler 1-2 0-0 2; Matt Spierenburg 0-1 0-0 0; Tim Burke 0-2 0-0 0; Aaron Kelly 0-1 0-0 0; Mike Wasilenko 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 15-48 12-19 49. THE UNIVERSITY OF SCRANTON (2-1) Brian O'Donnell 5-10 13-15 24; Mike McGowan 6-11 2-2 16; Randy Arnold 4-10 4-4 14; Bill Burke 3-9 0-1 6; Patrick Clabby 0-3 2-3 2; Darren Cannon 0-4 2-2 2; Justin Freid 0-1 0-0 0; Matthew Snyder 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 18-49 23-28 64. Catholic University........... 20 29 - 49 University of Scranton........ 25 39 - 64 3-point goals-Catholic University 7-24 (Steven Papageorge 5-7; ScoTt Fumal 1-6; Pat Satalin 1-8; Tim Burke 0-1; Patrick Dwyer 0-2), University of Scranton 5-21 (Mike McGowan 2-6; Randy Arnold 2-4; Brian O'Donnell 1-3; Darren Cannon 0-3; Matthew Snyder 0-1; Patrick Clabby 0-1; Bill Burke 0-3). Fouled out--Catholic University-Patrick Dwyer, University of Scranton-None. Rebounds-Catholic University 33 (Shane Sowden 8), University of Scranton 38 (Brian O'Donnell 10). Assists-Catholic University 13 (Steven Papageorge 2; Shane Sowden 2; Pat Satalin 2; Aaron Kelly 2), University of Scranton 12 (Bill Burke 4). Total fouls-Catholic University 23, University of Scranton 19. A-600