SCRANTON, Pa.—Senior guard Luke Hawk (Audubon, Pa./Methacton) scored 10 of his game-high 17 points in the second half as The University of Scranton held off a late rally to defeat Eastern University, 73-69, in the championship game of the PNC Bank Classic Monday afternoon at the Long Center.
Senior guard Zach Ashworth (Doylestown, Pa./Central Bucks West) added 16 points and six rebounds, all-tournament selection and sophomore guard Travis Farrell (Middletown, N.J./Christian Brothers Academy) finished with 13 points and four rebounds, and junior forward Matt Swaback (Kingston, Pa./Wyoming Seminary) chipped in 11 points as the Royals won their sixth straight game to improve to 8-2.
Senior forward Dan Miller (Lehighton, Pa.), who earned all-tournament honors, led the Eagles, now 8-2, with 16 points and nine rebounds and junior guard Collin Whipple (Williamstown, N.J.) had 16 points, five rebounds, and two assists.
In the third-place game, senior guard Rodney Freeney (Piscataway, N.J.) scored 20 points on 9 of 13 shooting from the field as Montclair State University cruised to an 87-52 victory over Cazenovia College. Senior forward Tyrone Prewitt (Trenton, N.J.) came off the bench and knocked down 7 of 11 shots from the field to finish with 14 points and 10 rebounds and All-tournament selection and sophomore guard Brendan Holland (Briarcliff, N.J.) chipped in 12 points as the Red Hawks, now 11-2, shot 60 percent from the field in the first half to open up a 52-26 lead.
Junior guard Ryan Hodownes (Honeoye Falls, N.Y.) and freshman guard Dieter Clauess (Buffalo, N.Y.) paced the Wildcats, 1-8, with eight points apiece.
Defensively, the Royals may have produced their best effort of the season in building up a 38-29 halftime lead. Scranton limited the Eagles to less than 28 percent shooting from the field and ended the stanza on a 17-8 run to take a lead it never relinquished. Eastern, however, got the Royals into foul trouble by consistently attacking the basket and stayed within contention by draining 11 of 12 free throws.
Ashworth hit back-to-back lay-ups midway through the second half to ignite a 13-6 spurt to give Scranton's its largest lead, 60-46, with 8:34 remaining before Miller brought the Eagles storming back. He scored eight points during a 16-5 spurt that whittled Scranton's lead down to one, 65-64, with 2:03 left.
Hawk then drained 3 of 4 free throws and the Eagles missed a 3-pointer and a lay-up on their next two possessions as Scranton pushed its margin back up to four points, 68-64, with 43 seconds remaining. Ashworth and Swaback sandwiched a pair of free throws around a lay-up by Eastern junior guard Martin Soaries (South Brunswick, N.J.) to make it a six-point advantage with 16 seconds left. Soaries then buried a 3-pointer before Swaback made one of two free throws to set the final score.
Eastern shot over 53 percent from the field in the second half to finish 40.7 percent for the game. The Eagles also held a slight advantage in rebounding, 34-32.
Scranton offset a 41 percent shooting effort from the field by committing a season-low eight turnovers, including just three in the first half. The Royals also got a big lift off the bench from sophomore guard Tim Lavelle (Clarks Green, Pa./Scranton Preparatory), senior forward Andrew Wynne (Fairport, N.Y./McQuaid Jesuit) and junior forward Edmond O'Connell (Somers, N.Y./Kennedy Catholic). The trio combined for 14 points and 10 rebounds.
The Royals will return to action this Saturday, January 8, against the Rangers of Drew University in the first of a four-game Landmark Conference home stand beginning at 2:00 p.m. at the Long Center. Immediately after the game, the university will induct the four newest members in the Wall of Fame.
News & Notes: Today's game was the second meeting ever between Scranton and Eastern; the Royals won the first meeting, 91-62, on January 4, 1997…Hawk is averaging 22.2 points in his last five games…Ashworth 16 points gives him 1436 for his career, which is 16th on the Royals' all-time list.
Newspaper Box Score (Championship Game, PNC Bank Classic)
SCRANTON 73, EASTERN 69
EASTERN UNIVERSITY (8-2)
Dan Miller 6-13 4-6 16; Collin Whipple 7-13 1-1 16; Michael Donatoni 2-3 6-6 12; Alex Nelson 4-14 2-2 11; Martin Soaries 3-8 3-3 10; Don Kaiser 1-1 0-0 2; Kyle Malloy 1-2 0-0 2; Chaz Merriman-Brown 0-1 0-0 0; Tyler Stowers 0-2 0-0 0; Paul Trusty 0-0 0-0 0; Ben DeWaal-Malefyt 0-0 0-0 0; Corey Gordon 0-2 0-0 0; Ben Connor 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-59 16-18 69.
SCRANTON (8-2)
Luke Hawk 4-9 9-12 17; Zach Ashworth 4-12 6-6 16; Travis Farrell 6-10 0-3 13; Matt Swaback 3-9 3-4 11; Edmond O'Connell 1-2 2-2 5; Tim Lavelle 1-2 3-5 5; Andrew Wynne 1-3 2-2 4; Tommy Morgan 1-4 0-0 2; Dan Hilferty 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 21-51 25-34 73.
Eastern University............ 29 40 - 69
The University of Scranton.... 38 35 - 73
3-point goals--Eastern University 5-17 (Michael Donatoni 2-3; Martin Soaries 1-4; Alex Nelson 1-4; Collin Whipple 1-3; Corey Gordon 0-2; Dan Miller 0-1), The University of Scranton 6-19 (Zach Ashworth 2-5; Matt Swaback 2-7; Edmond O'Connell 1-1; Travis Farrell 1-3; Andrew Wynne 0-1; Tim Lavelle 0-1; Luke Hawk 0-1). Fouled out--Eastern University-Alex Nelson; Collin Whipple, The University of Scranton-None. Rebounds--Eastern University 34 (Dan Miller 9),The University of Scranton 32 (Zach Ashworth 6). Assists--Eastern University 10 (Corey Gordon 2; Tyler Stowers 2; Martin Soaries 2; Collin Whipple 2), The University of Scranton 12 (Tommy Morgan 2; Dan Hilferty 2; Zach Ashworth 2; Matt Swaback 2; Luke Hawk 2). Total fouls--Eastern University 25, The University of Scranton 19. Technical fouls--Eastern University-None, The
University of Scranton-None. A-300 PNC Bank Classic Championship Game All-Tournament: Winas (Cazenovia), Larkin (Montclair State), Miller (Eastern), Farrell (Scranton), Hawk (Scranton) (MVP)
Newspaper Box Score (PNC Bank Classic, 3rd-Place Game)
MONTCLAIR ST. 87, CAZENOVIA COLLEGE 52
MONTCLAIR ST. (11-2)
Rodney Freeney 9-13 0-0 20; Tyrone Prewitt 7-11 0-1 14; A.J. Larkin 5-11 0-0 12; Tom Bonard 4-7 0-0 8; Michael Price 3-6 0-0 6; Brendan Holland 3-6 0-0 6; Hal Abraham 2-4 0-0 4; Ordel Goldson 2-2 0-0 4; Andrew August 1-4 1-2 3; Sean Young 1-3 0-0 2; Ken Spooner 1-6 0-2 2; Michael Walker 1-2 0-0 2; Bryan Godfrey 1-2 0-0 2; Charles Miller 1-5 0-0 2; Nick Tennant 0-1 0-0 0; Brandon Sessoms 0-3 0-1 0. Totals 41-86 1-6 87.
CAZENOVIA COLLEGE (1-8)
Ryan Hodownes 3-5 0-0 8; Dieter Clauess 2-6 3-4 8; Cameron Smith 2-7 3-4 7; Aaron Vickers 2-3 2-4 6; Darnell Sampson 1-5 3-4 5; Bryant Winans 1-7 3-5 5; Brandon Haughton 2-4 0-0 4; Andrew Matson 1-4 1-2 3; Andrew Jensen 1-3 0-0 2; Robert Rohrig 1-3 0-0 2; Joe Nichols 0-2 2-2 2; Kris Bain 0-0 0-0 0; Brendan Harnett 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 16-49 17-25 52.
Montclair St.................. 52 35 - 87
Cazenovia College............. 26 26 - 52
3-point goals--Montclair St. 4-13 (Rodney Freeney 2-4; A.J. Larkin 2-3; Tom Bonard 0-2; Michael Price 0-1; Ken Spooner 0-2; Nick Tennant 0-1), Cazenovia College 3-16 (Ryan Hodownes 2-4; Dieter Clauess 1-1; Bryant Winans 0-5; Brandon Haughton 0-1; Andrew Matson 0-2; Andrew Jensen 0-1; Joe Nichols 0-2). Fouled out--Montclair St.-None, Cazenovia College-None. Rebounds--Montclair St. 56 (Tyrone Prewitt 10), Cazenovia College 28 (Aaron Vickers 5). Assists--Montclair St. 27 (Charles Miller 6; Tom Bonard 6; A.J. Larkin 6), Cazenovia College 9 (Brandon Haughton 2; Ryan Hodownes 2). Total fouls--Montclair St. 19, Cazenovia College 11. Technical fouls—Montclair St.-None, Cazenovia College-None. A-100 PNC Bank Classic 3rd-Place Game