WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. – The University of Scranton men's basketball team could not mount an epic comeback for a second straight night, falling to Williams, 80-53, in the second round of the NCAA Division III Tournament on Saturday night.
The Royals (22-7) trailed by 17 at halftime one night after overcoming an 18-point deficit early in the second half to defeat Oswego State, 82-77 in overtime, in the first round. What made Saturday's deficit so much different was that Scranton shot 61.9 percent (13-for-21) in the first half and still found itself trailing, 48-31.
"I looked at the first half stats and we were down 17 at the half and we made 61 percent of our shots," head coach Carl Danzig said in the postgame press conference. "All credit to Williams – I thought they did a great job."
The Ephs (21-8) shot 53.3 percent (16-for-30) in the first half, then kept the pressure on, opening the second half with an 11-3 run to take a 25-point lead that was never threatened.
"It would have been helpful if they had missed a few shots," Danzig said. "We knew it was important to control the flow, but they are strong in the backcourt on the wing and underneath, and they were hitting everything."
Scranton was led by senior center John Vitkus (Mahopac, N.Y./Mahopac), who finished with 15 points, five rebounds, three blocks, two assists and a steal in his final career game. In four postseason games this year, he averaged 20.5 points, 5.5 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.0 blocks while shooting 68.1 percent (32-for-47) from the field.
Junior guard Ethan Danzig (Clarks Green, Pa./Abington Heights) finished with 14 points, four rebounds and four assists. He went 4-for-5 from 3-point range, giving him 81 made 3-pointers this season, a new school record. Danzig also had a big postseason, averaging 16.0 points, 6.8 rebounds and 3.3 assists while going 12-for-19 (63.2 percent) from 3-point range.
Scranton also got nine points and four assists from junior guard Kevin Doolan (Basking Ridge, N.J./Ridge).
The Royals finished the night 20-for-44 (45.5 percent) from the field, including 8-for-17 (47.1 percent) from 3-point range. They hit five of nine free throw attempts. The committed 19 turnovers, which led to 17 points by the Ephs.
Williams shot 49.2 percent (29-for-59) from the field, including 13-for-31 (41.9 percent) from 3-point range. The Ephs hit nine of 11 free throw attempts and held a 33-24 edge in rebounding and a 24-10 advantage in points in the paint. They also committed just 11 turnovers.
Scranton's 22 wins mark the 24th time in program history the Royals have won 20 or more games. It's the third time in the past four seasons, the fifth in the past seven, and the ninth in head coach Carl Danzig's 16 seasons at the helm.
Newspaper Box Score
Scranton vs Williams
3/4/17 7:00 p.m.
At Williamstown, Mass.
WILLIAMS 80, SCRANTON 53
SCRANTON (22-7)
John Vitkus 6-8 3-3 15; Ethan Danzig 5-8 0-0 14; Kevin Doolan 4-10 0-0 9; Kyle DeVerna 2-4 0-2 6; Mitch Cross 2-5 0-0 5; Drew Schankweiler 1-2 1-2 3; Matthew Mancuso 0-3 1-2 1; Brandon Feinberg 0-1 0-0 0; Jack Dreisbach 0-1 0-0 0; Chris McCullough 0-1 0-0 0; Jack Connelly 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 20-44 5-9 53.
WILLIAMS (21-8)
Daniel Aronowitz 8-13 2-2 22; Kyle Scadlock 5-11 3-4 15; Cole Teal 4-6 0-0 11; Mike Greenman 4-11 0-0 11; Michael Kempton 3-6 4-4 10; Marcos Soto 2-2 0-1 4; Bobby Casey 1-3 0-0 3; Jake Porath 1-1 0-0 2; Matthew Karpowicz 1-2 0-0 2; Mickey Babek 0-0 0-0 0; Vince Brookins 0-1 0-0 0; James Heskett 0-3 0-0 0; Chris Galvin 0-0 0-0 0; Adam Kroot 0-0 0-0 0; Taysean Scott 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 29-59 9-11 80.
Scranton...................... 31 22 - 53
Williams...................... 48 32 - 80
3-point goals--Scranton 8-17 (Ethan Danzig 4-5; Kyle DeVerna 2-2; Mitch Cross 1-3; Kevin Doolan 1-3; Jack Dreisbach 0-1; Chris McCullough 0-1; Jack Connelly 0-1; Matthew Mancuso 0-1), Williams 13-31 (Daniel Aronowitz 4-7; Mike Greenman 3-8; Cole Teal 3-5; Kyle Scadlock 2-4; Bobby Casey 1-3; Vince Brookins 0-1; James Heskett 0-3). Fouled out--Scranton-None, Williams-None. Rebounds--Scranton 24 (Matthew Mancuso 5; John Vitkus 5), Williams 33 (Michael Kempton 9). Assists--Scranton 14 (Kevin Doolan 4; Ethan Danzig 4; Chris McCullough 4), Williams 22 (Mike Greenman 11). Total fouls—Scranton 13, Williams 10. Technical fouls--Scranton-None, Williams-None. A-536
NCAA Tournament Second Round
(Williams College Sports Information contributed to this report.)
--ROYALS--