On a night when temperatures plummeted outside, the University of Scranton men's basketball team kept things nice and toasty in the Long Center in the opening round of the PNC Bank Royal Rumble on Monday night. The Royals were red-hot from the field, shooting 62.3 percent for the game en route to an 80-66 victory over Rosemont College.

The victory puts the Royals (6-2) into Tuesday's championship game against Muhlenberg at 4 p.m. in the Long Center. The Mules (8-1) defeated Washington & Lee (2-5) in the opening game on Monday, 66-57.

Scranton had four players score in double figures, led by sophomore forward Brendan Boken (South Pasadena, Calif./Loyola), who finished with 20 points, eight rebounds, five assists and a block. Senior guard Michael Barr (North Wales, Pa./Lansdale Catholic) and junior guard Justin Klingman (Clarks Summit, Pa./Abington Heights) matched their career-highs with 17 points apiece. And junior guard Ross Danzig (Clarks Green, Pa./Abington Heights/Blair Academy, N.J.) added 16 points, including the 1,000th of his career.

The Royals hardly missed in the first half, making 17 of 26 shots (65.4 percent) en route to a 39-32 halftime lead. The Ravens (4-5) pulled within four early in the second half before Boken scored inside and Klingman buried a 3-pointer to spark a 25-9 surge that the Royals ahead, 74-54, with 4:31 to play.

Scranton finished 33-for-53 from the field, including 7-for-15 (46.7 percent) from 3-point range. Klingman was a perfect 3-for-3 from beyond the arc and Barr was 3-for-6.

Danzig, who finished with seven rebounds and six assists, scored his milestone bucket early in the second half when he got free inside for a layup. He becomes the 40th player in school history to score 1,000 points and now has 1,005 for his career.

Senior guard Mike Marchman (Blauvelt, N.Y./St. Joseph Regional) added six points, three assists, two rebounds and two steals in 12 minutes off the bench. The Royals won the rebounding battle, 35-26, which helped offset their 17 turnovers to just 12 for Rosemont.

The Ravens were led by senior guard Dan Kearny (Briarcliffe, Pa./Cardinal O'Hara), who scored 12 of his team-high 14 points in the first half. 

--ROYALS--