Sophomore point-guard Randy Arnold (Doylestown, Pa./Central Bucks West) scored 14 of his game-high 21 points in the second-half to lift The University of Scranton to a 69-64 victory over King’s College in Freedom Conference action Wednesday evening at the John J. Long, S.J., Center.
Sophomore guard Ryan Kirk (Lansdale, Pa./LaSalle College) added 14 points and sophomore center Tom Bicknell (Melbourne, Australia/St. Bede’s College) contributed 12 points and 10 rebounds as the Royals won their third straight game to improve to 12-4 overall and took over sole possession of second-place in the Freedom Conference with a 4-1 record. Sophomore guard Jamie Cousart (Holland, Pa./Holy Ghost Preparatory) led the Monarchs with 19 points, sophomore center John Soboleski (Ashley, Pa./Hanover Area) had 15 points and 10 rebounds, and sophomore guard Kofi Dwebeng (Voorhees, N.J./Eastern) added 10 points. The loss snapped a seven-game winning streak for King’s, now 9-7 overall and 3-2 in league play.
Arnold and Bicknell combined for 14 first-half points as the Royals squeezed out a three-point lead at intermission, 25-22, despite shooting only 34.5 percent from the field (10 of 29). Soboleski had five points and four rebounds and sophomore forward Vince Scalzo (Shickshinny, Pa./Northwest Area), Dwebeng and Cousart contributed four apiece for the Monarchs, who also struggling finding the range by connecting on 10 of 25 field goal attempts (40 percent).
Scranton, which trailed only once—at 2-0 in the opening minute of the first-half—built up a pair of seven-point leads early in the second-half. Arnold scored seven points during a 13-6 run over a five-minute span that gave the Royals their first significant lead, 50-40, with less than 10 minutes remaining. The Monarchs continued to chip away at the Scranton lead and trialed by only four, 66-62, with 30 seconds remaining on a layup by Cousart.
On a scramble near mid-court on the Royals’ next possession, Scranton senior guard Nick Alfier (Allentown, Pa./Allentown Central Catholic) tapped a loose ball towards the basket that was picked up by junior guard Darren Cannon (Paupack, Pa./Wallenpaupack Area), who scored an uncontested layup to give the Royals a 6-point edge, 68-62. After Cousart missed a layup, Bicknell hit one of two free throws with 10 seconds left before Cousart drained two free throws with five seconds remaining to set the final score.
Bicknell’s ‘double-double’ was his third of the season and the second in his last three games, while Arnold’s 21-point performance was the sixth time this year he has scored 20-or-more points.
Both teams picked up their offense considerably in the second-half. King’s shot 57.7 percent (15 of 26) in the final 20 minutes of play to finish 49 percent for the game, while the Royals connected on 12 of 23 shots from the field (52.2 percent) to finish 42.3 percent for the game.
Scranton will take on the Bulldogs of DeSales University in Freedom Conference action this Saturday, January 21, at Billera Hall in Center Valley, Pennsylvania.
KING'S COLLEGE (9-7/3-2 Freedom) Jamie Cousart 7-11 5-6 19; John Soboleski 6-9 3-6 15; Kofi Dwebeng 5-8 0-0 10; Vince Scalzo 4-7 1-1 9; Bob Nenstiel 2-7 2-2 6; Thomas Moore 1-4 0-0 3; Jim Welsh 0-3 2-2 2; Ian Gilmartin 0-1 0-0 0; Shawn Swim 0-1 0-0 0; Vince Sobocinski 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-51 13-17 64. THE UNIVERSITY OF SCRANTON (12-4/4-1 Freedom) Randy Arnold 8-13 2-2 21; Ryan Kirk 2-6 8-10 14; Tom Bicknell 4-9 4-8 12; Paul Biagioli 3-5 1-1 7; Paul Hawk 2-5 2-2 6; Darren Cannon 1-2 2-2 4; Nick Alfier 1-5 0-0 3; Brendan Fuller 1-2 0-0 2; Bill Burke 0-2 0-0 0; James Powell 0-0 0-0 0; Michael Riccobono 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 22-52 19-25 69. King's College................ 22 42 - 64 The University of Scranton.... 25 44 - 69 3-point goals-King's College 1-7 (Thomas Moore 1-2; Kofi Dwebeng 0-1; Bob Nenstiel 0-1; Jim Welsh 0-2; Shawn Swim 0-1), The University of Scranton 6-18 (Randy Arnold 3-4; Ryan Kirk 2-5; Nick Alfier 1-3; Paul Hawk 0-2; Darren Cannon 0-1; Michael Riccobono 0-1; Paul Biagioli 0-2). Fouled out--King's College-Vince Scalzo; John Soboleski; Thomas Moore, The University of Scranton-Paul Hawk. Rebounds-King's College 30 (John Soboleski 10), The University of Scranton 31 (Tom Bicknell 10). Assists-King's College 13 (Jamie Cousart 3; Jim Welsh 3), The University of Scranton 13 (Ryan Kirk 3). Total fouls-King's College 25, The University of Scranton 18. A-750