12/14 - Men's Basketball: Previewing Game #6: vs. College Misericordia

Immediately, December 14, 2003 Contact: Kevin Southard, SID

Men’s Basketball Notes
Previewing Game #6: College Misericordia “Cougars” vs. The University of Scranton “Royals”
Monday, December 15, 2003
John J. Long, S.J. Center, Scranton, Pa., 12:00 p.m.

Team Records:
College Misericordia, 2-2
The University of Scranton, 1-4

Probable Starters
College Misericordia “Cougars” (2-2)
No. Name Pos. Pts/Rebs
11 Andre Little G 8.0/3.3
21 Kyle Watkins G 7.8/1.3
25 Shawn Hayes F 6.3/5.3
32 Ed Corliss F 15.3/6.3
40 Josh Kendrick F 18.8/4.5

The University of Scranton “Royals” (1-4)
No. Name Pos. Pts/Rebs
12 Matt Snyder G 12.8/3.5
24 Mike McGowan G 9.4/2.8
or
30 Nick Alfier G 3.4/1.6
50 Mike Kreuter C 3.0/2.8
14 Patrick Clabby F 3.6/2.2
21 Bill Burke F 9.0/6.4

Coaching Profiles:
Dave Martin – College Misericordia
Dave Martin is in his 14th season as head coach of the Cougar men’s basketball program. A four-time Pennsylvania Athletic Conference Coach of the Year selection, he has led Misericordia to eight straight winning seasons and 170 victories. He is assisted by Bob McGoff, Tom Griffith and Joe Ryan.

Carl Danzig – The University of Scranton
A 1987 graduate of Baker University in his native state of Kansas, Danzig is in his third season as head coach of the Royals. His overall record and record at Scranton is 37-23 (.627). He is assisted by Mike Bartoletti (Robert Morris ’85, 3rd year) and Tod Hessong (Pittsburg St.-Kansas ’03, 1st year).

Cougar Review: College Misericordia fell to 2-2 on the season with a 78-69 setback to DeSales University on Monday, December 1, in Dallas, Pennsylvania. Ed Corliss scored a game-high 22 points and pulled down nine rebounds and Josh Kendrick added 14 points to pace the Cougar attack.

Royal Review: The Royals opened defense of its 2003 Freedom Conference title by dropping a 70-58 decision to Lycoming College on Wednesday, December 3, at the Long Center. Sophomore guard Matt Snyder (Scranton, Pa./Scranton Prep) led Scranton, which suffered its third straight loss, with 13 points and freshman forward Patrick Clabby (Middletown, N.J./Middletown), making his first career start, had 12 points, three assists and two steals. Trailing by nine at intermission and by seven midway through the second half, the Warriors put the game out of reach with a 14-6 spurt to push its lead to 17, 68-51, with less than four minutes remaining.

High Noon: The University of Scranton and College Misericordia are pleased to welcome approximately 500 elementary education students from the Scranton School District to Monday’s game at noon. The following schools will be in attendance: John F. Kennedy School, Lincoln/Jackson School, Robert Morris School, George Bancroft School and McNichols Plaza.
All-Time Series: The University of Scranton holds a 7-1 advantage since the all-time series with College Misericordia began on December 15, 1991. The two teams will be meeting for the first time since the Royals posted an 86-72 victory over the Cougars in the championship game of the Laurel Line Tournament on November 20, 1999. College Misericordia’s only win in the series came on November 18, 1995, by the score of 73-69 here at the Long Center.

O’Donnell Out Indefinitely: Junior forward Brian O’Donnell, a pre-season honorable mention all-American by Street & Smith magazine and Scranton’s top rebounder the past two seasons, is out indefinitely due to a broken hand suffered in the Royals’ loss to Catholic University on Saturday, November 29, in Washington, DC. O’Donnell is currently averaging 12.0 points and a team-leading 11.0 rebounds per game.

Up To The Challenge: After going scoreless in a season-opening 83-68 loss to Richard Stockton at the Albright Tournament, sophomore point-guard Matt Snyder has scored in double figures in his last four games to raise his scoring average to 12.8, tops on the team. Snyder is also shooting a respectable 40.7 percent from beyond the 3-point arc and 86.7 percent from the free throw line.

Instant Offense: Freshman guard Mike McGowan has come off the bench and provided instant offense for the Royals. He has scored in double figures three times, including a season-high 17 points in a 73-72 loss in overtime to Marywood, and is currently burning the nets at a rate of 61.5 percent from the field, 53.8 percent from beyond the 3-point arc and 80 percent from the free throw line.

History Repeats Itself? The Royals will look to regroup after a 1-4 start, which is its worst since 1979-80. That team, however, responded by going 17-7 the rest of the way to finish 18-11 under then head coach Bob Bessoir. Scranton also defeated Lycoming, 74-56, and Albright, 87-75, to win the Middle Atlantic Conference title and advanced to the NCAA Division III tournament, where it defeated Dickinson, 51-48, before wrapping up the season with an 81-73 loss to Albright.

FDU-Florham Game Rescheduled
The University of Scranton game with FDU-Florham that was postponed on Saturday, December 6, in Madison, New Jersey, due to the heavy snow that hit the East Coast, will be played on Monday, January 26, beginning at 8:00 p.m. in Madison, New Jersey.

Small Steps: The Royals enter Monday’s game against Misericordia with only one player suiting up—guard Matt Duardo—who is not a freshmen or a sophomore. Still, this young team has done a better job of taking care of the basketball in recent games, committing a season-low 12 turnovers in its most recent game, a 70-58 loss to Lycoming, and 18 in a loss at Catholic University on November 29 in Washington, DC. In its first three games of the season, the Royals turned the ball over 80 times, an average of nearly 27 a game. Defensively, Scranton has held three opponents—Pitt-Greensburg, Marywood and Lycoming—to 40 percent-or-less shooting from the field.

Upcoming Games:
Wed. Dec. 17 at Elizabethtown (7:00 pm)

SAT. JAN. 3 RADISSON INV.
LONG CENTER
1:00 PM GETTYSBURG VS. SUSQUEHANNA
3:00 PM CLARK VS. SCRANTON

SUN. JAN. 4 RADISSON INV.
LONG CENTER
1:00 PM THIRD-PLACE GAME
3:00 PM CHAMPIONSHIP

--ROYALS--