SCRANTON, Pa. – The University of Scranton men's basketball team claimed the Hilton Scranton Invitational Championship with a 63-50 victory over DeSales University on Saturday afternoon at the John Long Center.
The Basics
- Final Score: Scranton 63, DeSales 50
- Records: Scranton (2-0), DeSales (1-1)
How It Happened
- Sophomore Sammy Tornabene sparked the Royals early, scoring seven of the team's first 10 points to ignite the offense. Senior Jon Spatola connected with junior Nick Ruisi on a backdoor cut to push Scranton's lead to 11, and soon after buried back-to-back three-pointers to fuel a 13-0 run.
- Spatola later spun past his defender for a jumper that extended the margin to 11 with just over three minutes left in the first half, as the Royals went into the break leading 32-21 on 43.3% shooting.
- In the second half, freshman Ben Robinson drilled a three and sophomore Kylon Brown finished a fast break to make it 41-26 with 15:20 remaining. Tornabene continued to shine, finding freshman Josias Carbon on a baseline cut for an easy two before intercepting a pass and taking it coast-to-coast for a thunderous dunk that gave Scranton a 17-point cushion with just over 10 minutes to play.
- The Royals maintained control the rest of the way, holding DeSales to just 9.1% from beyond the arc (2-for-22) to secure the tournament title.
Top Performers
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Sammy Tornabene: 18 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block, 1 steal
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Jon Spatola: 16 points, 7 assists, 5 rebounds, 3 steals
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Brendan Carr: 10 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 threes
Inside the Box Score
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Field Goal %: Scranton 46.4%, DeSales 37.5%
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3-Point %: Scranton 36.8%, DeSales 9.1%
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Rebounds: DeSales 34, Scranton 24
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Points off Turnovers: Scranton 19
Up Next
- The Royals travel to Centenary University on Friday, Nov. 14 at 7:00 p.m. for their next game.
