Men's Basketball

University of Scranton 71, Delaware Valley 61


DOYLESTOWN (PA) - The University of Scranton men's basketball team rallied from a 14-point, second-half deficit and defeated host Delaware Valley College, 71-61, in a Freedom Conference game.

The win upped the Royals' record to 13-3 overall, 4-2 in the conference while the Aggies fell to 7-10, 2-5.

Delaware Valley scored eight of the final 10 points in the first half to take a 34-26 lead into the intermission. A.J. Neal came off the bench to score four points in the run, including a dunk with 2:06 to go.

The Aggies then increased the lead to 45-31 with 15:09 remaining as Mike Zupa hit three free throws to cap a 5-0 run. Scranton went on a 17-4 tear to pull to within one, 49-48, but Neal hit a pair of foul shots and threw down another dunk to make it a 53-48 ballgame with 6:57 to go.

However, the Royals outscored Delaware Valley, 23-8, the rest of the way, including a 12-0 spurt that gave them the lead for good. Nick Alfier and Daren Cannon notched seven and six points respectively down the stretch.

Brian O'Donnell paced Scranton with game-highs of 20 points and 10 rebounds. Mike McGowan finished with 18 points while Alfier and Cannon had 10 and nine points respectively.

Isaiah Pinckney and Maurice Slaughter had 13 points apiece for the Aggies while Mike Zupa came off the bench to add 12. Josh Taylor grabbed a career-high nine rebounds in the loss.