UNION, N.J.—Senior guard Luke Hawk (Audubon, Pa./Methacton) scored a career-high 31 points and senior guard Zach Ashworth (Doylestown, Pa./Central Bucks West) and sophomore guard Travis Farrell (Middletown, N.J./Christian Brothers Academy) contributed 25 apiece to lead The University of Scranton to its third straight win, a 94-90 victory over Kean University at Harwood Arena Monday evening.
The trio combined to shoot 26 of 46 from the field (56.5 percent) and also pulled down 28 of Scranton's 40 rebounds as the Royals improved to 5-2 on the season. Ashworth recorded a career-high 10 rebounds while Farrell was just one shy of his career-high with 11.
Senior Jonathan Jones (Linden, N.J./Linden) posted his eighth straight 'double-double' of the season with 20 points and 13 rebounds and freshman guards Andrew Kirey (Millville, N.J./St. Augustine Preparatory) and Michael Burton (Irvington, N.J./Mainland Regional) added 16 and 15 points, respectively, for Kean, now 5-3.
The Royals blitzed out to a 55-44 lead at intermission by shooting nearly 53 percent from the field (19 of 36) and the 3-point arc (9 of 17). Ashworth (20), Farrell (16) and Hawk (12) combined for 48 of Scranton's 55 points, its highest first-half output since scoring 55 against Pratt Institute on January 6, 2007, at the Long Center.
With less than three minutes remaining in the game, the Cougars made one final push to pull out the victory. Trailing by 11, 88-77, Burton sandwiched a pair of 3-pointers around a 3-pointer by Kirey to draw Kean to within five, 88-83, with 2:04 left.
Royal junior forward Matt Swaback (Kingston, Pa./Wyoming Seminary) and Ashworth each hit a pair of free throws to make it a three-possession game with 1:33 and 0:33, respectively. After two free throws by Jones and a 3-pointer by Burton in between one of two free throws by Farrell cut the lead to three, 93-90, with four seconds remaining, Hawk set the final score by making one of two from the charity stripe.
For the game, Scranton shot 50.8 percent from the field, including 45.8 percent (11 of 24) from the 3-point arc. After making all eight of their free throw attempts in the first half, the Royals struggled in the second half, connecting on just 13 of 27 attempts to finished 21 of 35 (60 percent) for the game.
The Royals will play their third game in five days this Wednesday, December 15, against Cabrini College beginning at 7:30 p.m. at the Long Center.
News & Notes: Hawk has scored 55 points in his last two games…Hawk's previous career-high was a 29-point effort against Misericordia University on November 25, 2008, at the Anderson Center in Dallas, Pennsylvania…Farrell's 11 rebounds was one shy of his career-high of 12 against Centenary on November 20, 2010, at the Long Center…Scranton now holds a 6-2 lead in the all-time series with Kean…Ashworth's 10 rebounds surpasses his previous of nine on four other occasions…Kean's bench out-scored the Royal reserves, 35-5.
Newspaper Box Score
SCRANTON 94, KEAN 90
SCRANTON (5-2)
Luke Hawk 12-20 6-14 31; Travis Farrell 8-11 4-5 25; Zach Ashworth 6-15 9-10 25; Tommy Morgan 2-5 0-3 4; Matt Swaback 1-3 2-2 4; Tim Lavelle 1-1 0-0 3; Edmond O'Connell 1-1 0-1 2; Nick Jaskula 0-0 0-0 0; Andrew Wynne 0-5 0-0 0; Dan Hilferty 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 31-61 21-35 94.
KEAN (5-3)
Jonathan Jones 7-12 6-8 20; Andrew Kirey 6-10 1-2 16; Michael Burton 5-13 2-2 15; Kyle Latorre 4-4 3-5 11; J.J. Hladik 3-9 0-0 9; Ali Mix 3-10 0-0 6; Tim Steward 2-3 0-0 4; Diego Gutierrez 2-3 0-1 4; Kenny Pace 1-4 0-2 3; Joe Ribeiro 0-1 2-2 2; Robert Lewis 0-0 0-0 0; Leigh Keenan 0-0 0-0 0; Mike Shaughnessy 0-2 0-1 0; Anthony Gibson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 33-71 14-23 90.
Scranton.... 55 39 - 94
Kean............... 44 46 - 90
3-point goals--The University of Scranton 11-24 (Travis Farrell 5-7; Zach Ashworth 4-10; Tim Lavelle 1-1; Luke Hawk 1-3; Matt Swaback 0-2; Tommy Morgan 0-1), Kean University 10-19 (Michael Burton 3-4; Andrew Kirey 3-5; J.J. Hladik 3-6; Kenny Pace 1-3; Ali Mix 0-1). Fouled out--The University of Scranton-None, Kean University-Michael Burton. Rebounds--The University of Scranton 40 (Travis Farrell 11), Kean University 41 (Jonathan Jones 13). Assists--The University of Scranton 20 (Travis Farrell 5), Kean University 20 (Mike Shaughnessy 9). Total fouls--The University of Scranton 19, Kean University 26. Technical fouls--The University of Scranton-None, Kean University-None. A-201