BY SCOTT WALSH, STAFF WRITER
SCRANTON — A strong finish wasn’t enough to overcome a sluggish start by the University of Scranton men’s basketball team.
William Paterson University handed the Royals their first loss of the season, 75-69, in the championship game of the Hilton Scranton Invitational at the John Long Center on Saturday.
Sean Smith scored 17 points for the Pioneers (3-0) and was named tournament Most Valuable Player. Nasir Fields added 16 points and 11 rebounds to earn a spot on the all-tournament team. Domenic Mignone and Nick Rodriguez chipped in 11 points each.
Matt Mancuso had a game-high 23 points for Scranton (2-1) and was selected to the all-tournament team. Logan Bailey had 16 points, Kyle DeVerna 15 and Jackson Danzig 10.
Scranton shot just 36.8 percent (21 for 57). It missed eight of its first nine shots, fell behind by double digits late in the first half and spent the rest of the game playing catchup.
It almost did. The Royals whittled a 13-point deficit with two-plus minutes left to three in the final minute before William Paterson repelled the rally by hitting five free throws in the final 31 seconds.
“We just didn’t make enough shots. You’ve got to make perimeter shots,” Scranton coach Carl Danzig said. “They made a lot of long, timely shots. But basically, it came down to a slow start being the difference in the game.”
Only once did the Royals lead; that was when Kyle DeVerna opened the scoring with a 3-pointer 90 seconds into the contest. William Paterson scored the next eight points.
With 5½ minutes left in the first half, it was 23-20 when the Pioneers went on an 11-0 run to open a 34-20 advantage with 2:19 left. They led at halftime, 36-26.
“We didn’t come out shooting well,” Mancuso said. “We just weren’t on today. We didn’t come out with the fire we needed.”
In the second half, the Royals crept to within 41-36 on a Bailey basket with 15:53 left.
But William Paterson responded with a 16-4 burst to open its largest lead, 57-40, with 11:19 left. Three-pointers by Smith, Anthony Uribe and Nick Rodriguez ignited the run.
“It seemed like they hit 20 threes, but they only hit 10,” coach Danzig said. “And they all seemed to be very timely.”
A basket by Uribe with 2:07 left made it 69-56 for the Pioneers. But that’s when the Royals gave it one last gasp.
Mancuso sank two free throws and Jack Brockett hit a 3-pointer. Mancuso followed with a basket and two free throws to trim the margin to four with 1:09 left.
After Jadon Cepeda hit one of two free throws, DeVerna hit two foul shots to bring the Royals within 70-67 with 36.5 seconds left.
However, Smith and Rodriguez sandwiched two free throws around one by Henry Voorhees to seal the win for the Pioneers.
“We fought back, which was nice. We showed heart and grit at the end, so we’ll take that as a positive,” Mancuso said. “We came out soft, though. We’ll learn from this. Look at the film, see the things we did wrong and get stronger.”
In the tournament consolation game, Sarah Lawrence College defeated Houghton College, 96-59. Enike Anyia led Sarah Lawrence with 18 points. Jordan Holmes had 14 points for Houghton.
Anyia and Holmes represented their respective schools on the all-tournament team.
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WILLIAM PATERSON (3-0) — McLeod 1 0-0 3; Fields 6 4-5 16; Smith 5 2-2 17; Uribe 3 0-1 7; Mignone 4 3-4 11; Cepeda 1 2-4 4; Rodriguez 3 2-2 11; Williams 1 0-0 2; Asani 0 0-0 0; Voorhees 1 2-4 4; Bennett 0 0-0 0. Totals: 25-58 15-22 75
SCRANTON (2-1) — Mancuso 7 9-11 23; Danzig 3 3-5 10; Brockett 1 0-0 3; Bailey 6 4-5 16; DeVerna 3 6-6 15; Monaghan 0 0-0 0; Bosland 1 0-0 2; Genasevich 0 0-0 0; Stafford 0 0-0 0; Braunstein 0 0-0 0; Ems 0 0-0 0. Totals: 21-57 22-27 69
Halftime: William Paterson, 36-26. 3-point goals: WP 10 (Smith 5, Rodriguez 3, McLeod, Uribe); SCR 5 (DeVerna 3, Danzig, Brockett). Rebounds: WP 40 (Fields 11); SCR 36 (Mancuso 9). Assists: WP 19 (Mignone 5); SCR 13 (Danzig 4). Steals: WP 5 (Uribe, Cepeda 2); SCR 8 (DeVerna 4). Blocks: WP 7 (Uribe, Voorhees 2); SCR 3 (Mancuso 2). Turnovers: WP 12; SCR 10. Team fouls: WP 22; SCR 18. Fouled out: Smith, Danzig.