SCRANTON, Pa.—The University of Scranton kept its chance for the number one seed alive in the upcoming Freedom Conference tournament by downing King’s College, 84-74, Tuesday evening at the John J. Long, S.J., Center.
Senior forward Brian O’Donnell (Mahopac, N.Y./John F. Kennedy) and freshman guard Randy Arnold (Doylestown, Pa./Central Bucks West) scored 16 points apiece and sophomore guard Darren Cannon (Paupack, Pa./Wallenpaupack Area) added 15 points and a game and career-high 13 rebounds as the Royals improved to 18-5 overall and 9-4 in the Freedom Conference. Junior forward Thomas Moore (West Stockbridge, Mass./St. Joseph Central) led the Monarchs, now 19-5 overall and tied for first-place in the league with DeSales, with 15 points and senior forward Marty O’Hora (Hackettstown, N.J./Pope John Paul XXIII) and freshman center John Soboleski (Ashley, Pa./Hanover Area) chipped in 13 points apiece.
Sophomore forward Patrick Clabby (Middletown, N.J./Middletown) had 14 points, seven rebounds, two assists and two steals for Scranton, which erased a nine-point deficit early in the second-half and out-scored the Monarchs 20-10 in the final six minutes of play to pull out the victory.
King’s, behind 13 points by Moore and nine by freshman guard Jim Welsh (Philadelphia, Pa./Archbishop Ryan) off the bench, shot 48.4 percent from the field to take a 41-40 lead at halftime. Clabby scored 11 first-half points for the Royals.
The Monarchs extended their lead to nine, 49-40, on a lay-up and a 3-pointer by O’Hora and a 3-pointer by senior guard Landon Gabriel (Carbondale, Pa./Carbondale Area) in the opening two minutes of the second-half. Arnold and O’Donnell combined for eight points and Cannon drilled a 3-pointer to cap off a 10-1 run to cut King’s lead to one, 51-50, two minutes later. The game was tied on three occasions over the next 10 minutes until seldom-used freshman guard Ryan Kirk (Lansdale, Pa./LaSalle College) buried back-to-back 3-pointers to spark a 10-2 spurt to give the Royals a 76-68 lead with 3:37 left. Kirk, who played just 51 minutes in 12 previous games, finished with a season-high eight points, two assists and a steal in 13 minutes of action.
King’s closed to within six, 78-72, with 1:53 left on two free throw by Landon before Cannon scored on a baseline lay-up and Arnold hit four of six free throws down the stretch to ice the game. The Monarchs went cold from the field in the second half and connected on only 9 of 27 field goal attempts (33.3 percent) to finish 41.4 percent for the game.
Scranton will need help to earn the number one seed in the Freedom Conference tournament. The Royals must win Saturday at home against Delaware Valley and DeSales must lose at Lycoming and FDU-Florham must beat King’s at King’s.
Newspaper Box Score King's College vs University of Scranton THE UNIVERSITY OF SCRANTON 84, KING'S COLLEGE 74 KING'S COLLEGE (19-5/10-3 conf.) Thomas Moore 4-10 5-5 15; Marty O'Hora 5-9 1-2 13; John Soboleski 5-7 3-6 13; Jim Welsh 3-5 0-0 9; Vince Scalzo 2-4 3-3 7; Landon Gabriel 2-8 2-2 7; Brian Horgan 2-11 2-2 6; Jamie Cousart 1-4 2-3 4. Totals 24-58 18-23 74. THE UNIVERSITY OF SCRANTON (18-5/9-4 conf.) Brian O'Donnell 4-9 7-9 16; Randy Arnold 6-12 4-8 16; Darren Cannon 6-13 0-0 15; Patrick Clabby 5-11 3-3 14; Mike McGowan 3-7 1-2 9; Ryan Kirk 3-3 0-0 8; Mike Kreuter 1-4 0-0 2; Nick Alfier 1-2 0-0 2; Michael Riccobono 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 29-62 17-24 84. King's College................ 41 33 - 74 University of Scranton........ 40 44 - 84 3-point goals-King's College 8-22 (Jim Welsh 3-4; Thomas Moore 2-3; Marty O'Hora 2-3; Landon Gabriel 1-4; Jamie Cousart 0-1; Brian Horgan 0-6; Vince Scalzo 0-1), University of Scranton 9-22 (Darren Cannon 3-8; Ryan Kirk 2-2; Mike McGowan 2-4; Patrick Clabby 1-2; Brian O'Donnell 1-2; Nick Alfier 0-1; Randy Arnold 0-3). Fouled out--King's College-Marty O'Hora, University of Scranton-Patrick Clabby. Rebounds-King's College 35 (John Soboleski 8), University of Scranton 39 (Darren Cannon 13). Assists-King's College 12 (Brian Horgan 3), University of Scranton 14 (Brian O'Donnell 5). Total fouls-King's College 20, University of Scranton 19. A-1800