University of Scranton head basketball coach Carl Danzig made lemonade out of lemons Wednesday evening at the John J. Long, S.J., Center.
Playing without three starters and a key reserve due to injuries and illness, the Royals, behind 20-point performance by sophomore guard Randy Arnold (Doylestown, Pa./Central Bucks West) and a career-high 15-point effort from sophomore guard Ryan Kirk (Lansdale, Pa./LaSalle College), pulled off an 81-76 victory over Elizabethtown College for their third straight win to improve to 8-2.
Elizabethtown, which fell to 6-4, was led sophomore guard/forward Chad Piersol (Elverson, Pa./Owen J. Roberts) with 20 points and junior guard Greg Brizek (Sinking Spring, Pa./Conrad Weiser) added 19.
Scranton also got a big lift from sophomore center Tom Bicknell (Melbourne, Australia/St. Bede’s College), who had his first ‘double-double’ of the season with 14 points and 13 rebounds—both career highs—and sophomore guard James Powell (Miami, Fla./Miami Palmetto), who hit four clutch free throws and came up with a key rebound off a missed Blue Jay free throw in the final two minutes of play to help seal the win. Powell finished with six points, two rebounds, an assist, a block and two steal in 19 minutes of action.
Elizabethtown shot 62.5 percent from the field in the first-half to build up significant leads of 12 (30-18) and nine points (42-33) before the Royals went on a 12-5 run in the final 3:42 to cut the lead to two, 47-45, by intermission. Piersol led the Blue Jays in the opening 20 minutes of play with 11 points and Brizek and senior forward Brad Schreiber (Mechanicsburg, Pa./East Pennsboro) added 10 apiece. Kirk scored 13 of his 15 points in the first half by connecting on 4 of 5 shots from the field, including 3 of 4 from beyond the 3-point arc. Scranton also shot well in the first-half, connecting on 16 of 27 field goal attempts (59.3 percent)
The game was tied five times in the second-half before Royal freshman forward Paul Hawk (Audubon, Pa./Methacton) drilled a 3-pointer at the top of the key and added a layup to ignite a 7-1 run to give the Royals the lead for good, 70-64. Elizabethtown cut the lead down to three on three occasions, the last of which came on a layup by Brizek with 10 seconds remaining. Arnold then hit two free throws with eight seconds remaining to set the final score.
Scranton played without starting forward Patrick Clabby (Middletown, N.J./Middletown South) due to a shoulder injury, starting guard Ryan FitzPatrick (Berwyn, Pa./Conestoga) due to a foot injury, and junior guard Darren Cannon (Paupack, Pa./Wallenpaupack Area) due to the flu. Junior reserve guard Mike McGowan (Lansdale, Pa./Lansdale Catholic) missed his third straight game because of a foot injury.
Hawk finished with seven points and four blocks senior forward Bill Burke (West Pittston, Pa./Seton Catholic) came off the bench to contribute eight points and four rebounds for the Royals, who shot 51.0 percent from the field and connected on 25 of 31 free throw attempts (80.6 percent). The Blue Jays shot 45.8 percent from the field in the second-half to finish 55.4 percent for the game.
The Royals will return to action on Saturday, January 7, to take on Chestnut Hill College in the opening round of the Radisson Invitational beginning at 3:00 p.m. at the Long Center. The first game of the tournament will feature Alvernia College against Curry College (Mass.) at 1:00 p.m.
ELIZABETHTOWN COLLEGE (6-4) Chad Piersol 8-10 1-3 20; Greg Brizek 7-15 3-6 19; Brad Schreiber 5-10 0-0 11; Brian Schreiber 4-8 0-0 9; Justin Shade 3-6 1-2 7; Luke Ledyard 2-3 1-1 5; Brian Goodwin 1-2 1-2 3; Greg Adams 1-2 0-0 2; Rob Fusaro 0-0 0-0 0; Phil Schaffer 0-0 0-0 0; Kris Kieres 0-0 0-0 0; Jordan Dirago 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 31-56 7-14 76. THE UNIVERSITY OF SCRANTON (8-2) Randy Arnold 6-13 7-10 20; Ryan Kirk 4-7 4-4 15; Tom Bicknell 5-8 4-6 14; Bill Burke 3-4 2-3 8; Paul Hawk 2-6 2-2 7; James Powell 1-3 4-4 6; Mike Kreuter 2-4 2-2 6; Nick Alfier 2-4 0-0 5; Paul Biagioli 0-0 0-0 0; Michael Riccobono 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-49 25-31 81. Elizabethtown College......... 47 29 - 76 The University of Scranton.... 45 36 - 81 3-point goals-Elizabethtown College 7-13 (Chad Piersol 3-4; Greg Brizek 2-5; Brian Schreiber 1-2; Brad Schreiber 1-1; Greg Adams 0-1), The University of Scranton 6-15 (Ryan Kirk 3-6; Paul Hawk 1-2; Randy Arnold 1-4; Nick Alfier 1-3). Fouled out--Elizabethtown College-Greg Adams, The University of Scranton-None. Rebounds-Elizabethtown College 20 (Brian Schreiber 9), The University of Scranton 33 (Tom Bicknell 13). Assists-Elizabethtown College 18 (Greg Adams 6), The University of Scranton 14 (Randy Arnold 4). Total fouls-Elizabethtown College 23, The University of Scranton 16. A-250