MADISON, N.J.—Not this time.
A week after letting a 13-point halftime lead dissolve into a 70-67 loss at FDU-Madison and three days after a 16-point second-half advantage turn into a nail-biting 77-75 win in overtime against Lycoming, the University of Scranton pulled away from five-point halftime lead to post a convincing 73-48 win over Drew University in Freedom Conference action Saturday afternoon at Baldwin Gymnasium.
The win was the third straight for the Royals, now 16-4 overall and 7-3 in the Freedom Conference. Scranton moves into a tie for second-place with DeSales University, which lost to now league-leader King’s College, 85-62, Saturday afternoon. Scranton and DeSales are one game behind the Monarchs with four games remaining in the regular season.
Senior forward Brian O’Donnell scored 17 points and pulled down 10 rebounds and sophomore guard Darren Cannon added 15 points, including 11 in the first-half, as the Royals shot 56.0 percent from the field (14 of 25) after intermission while holding the Rangers to just 15 second-half points. The loss dropped Drew to 2-19 overall and 0-10 in league play.
Drew trailed by only seven points with 15:46 remaining, but sophomore guard Mike McGowan started an 18-4 run with a 3-pointer and a lay-up and O’Donnell added six points during a nine-minute span that extended Scranton’s lead to 21, 61-40. McGowan finished with 12 points on 5 of 8 shooting from the field.
O’Donnell’s 11 rebounds gives him 200 for the season, the fourth consecutive year he has accomplished this feat. His double-double in points and rebounds was his 10th of the season and the 39th of his career. He enters Wednesday’s game against Wilkes University at the John J. Long, S.J., Center needing only four rebounds to become one of only five players in Scranton history with at least 900 career rebounds. The other four are three-time all-American Irv Johnson (1,259; 1975-1978, 1979-1980), Mickey Banas (953, 1980-1984), Jeff Jones (950, 1980-1984) and all-American Ed Kazakavich (939, 1956-1959).
The Scranton-Wilkes game will tip-off on Wednesday, February 9, at 8:00 p.m.
Newspaper Box Score THE UNIVERSITY OF SCRANTON 73, DREW UNIVERSITY 48 THE UNIVERSITY OF SCRANTON (16-4/7-3 Freedom) Brian O'Donnell 5-13 7-7 17; Darren Cannon 5-10 2-2 15; Mike McGowan 5-8 0-0 12; Patrick Clabby 4-6 1-2 9; Randy Arnold 2-4 3-3 9; James Powell 1-1 0-0 2; Matt Duardo 1-2 0-0 2; Nick Alfier 1-4 0-0 2; Victor Agapay 1-1 0-0 2; Mike Kreuter 1-3 0-0 2; Michael Riccobono 0-1 1-1 1. Totals 26-53 14-17 73. DREW UNIVERSITY (2-19/0-10 Freedom) Bob Carella 4-11 0-0 11; Craig Clemente 2-3 5-6 9; Sam Taub 4-7 1-3 9; Leon Thomas 2-7 1-2 6; Mike Amalfie 1-2 2-4 4; David Cramer 1-3 1-2 3; Chris Lopez 1-6 0-0 2; Damon Dilorenzo 1-5 0-0 2; Joe Lamson 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 17-45 10-17 48. The University of Scranton........ 38 35 - 73 Drew University............... 33 15 - 48 3-point goals-University of Scranton 7-18 (Darren Cannon 3-7; Mike McGowan 2-4; Randy Arnold 2-3; Matt Duardo 0-1; Nick Alfier 0-2; Brian O'Donnell 0-1), Drew University 4-16 (Bob Carella 3-8; Leon Thomas 1-4; Chris Lopez 0-2; Damon Dilorenzo 0-2). Fouled out--University of Scranton-None, Drew University-None. Rebounds-University of Scranton 32 (Brian O'Donnell 11), Drew University 28 (Leon Thomas 9). Assists-University of Scranton 15 (Brian O'Donnell 5), Drew University 9 (Sam Taub 3). Total fouls-University of Scranton 18, Drew University 16. A-300