Trailing by double-digits early in the first half, University of Scranton men's basketball coach Carl Danzig called three timeouts to calm his team down. Whatever he said in those huddles must have paid off.
The Royals rallied from a 13-point first-half deficit to hand first-place Catholic its first Landmark Conference loss, 92-82, on Saturday afternoon in the Long Center on Wall of Fame day. The victory keeps Scranton (14-3, 4-2 Landmark) in no worse than a tie for second place, a game behind the Cardinals (11-6, 5-1 Landmark).
Junior guard Ross Danzig (Clarks Green, Pa./Abington Heights/Blair Academy, N.J.) led the Scranton comeback by scoring 31 points and pulling down nine rebounds. Sophomore forward Brendan Boken (South Pasadena, Calif./Loyola) had 17 points, senior guard Michael Barr (North Wales, Pa./Lansdale Catholic) had 15 points, senior guard Tommy Morgan (Greenlawn, N.Y./Chaminade) had 13 and junior guard Justin Klingman (Clarks Summit, Pa./Abington Heights) added 10.
Catholic came on the court for the opening tip and seemingly couldn't miss. The Cardinals hit their first four 3-point attempts and raced out to a 25-12 lead at the 11:05 mark, forcing those three Scranton timeouts along the way.
But the Royals settled in and slowly chipped the lead away and went into the locker room trailing by just two, 43-41. They closed the half on a 7-1 run as Danzig scored the first five points of the spurt. He finished the opening half with 18 points, and Klingman and Morgan had seven each.
When Barr hit a 3-pointer for the first points of the second half, Scranton had its first lead, and the game settled into a back-and-forth battle for most of the second half. Neither team led by four and the game was tied six times, including the last time at 78-78 with 2:03 to play.
That's when the Royals took over, finishing the game on a 14-4 run, sparked by a Morgan layup, a defensive rebound by Boken, and a 3-pointer from Danzig for an 83-78 lead with a minute left.
The Cardinals drew back within three after a jumper by sophomore guard Bryson Fonville (Greensboro, N.C./Page). But Scranton made seven of eight free throws in the final 44 seconds, including four straight from Barr, to put the game away.
Scranton finished the game 31-for-57 (54.4 percent) from the field, including 10-for-19 (52.6 percent) from beyond the 3-point arch. Danzig hit all three of his 3-point attempts and Barr made three of five. The Royals also won the rebounding battle, 37-27, behind nine from Danzig and six from Klingman. Scranton also made 20 of 23 free throws (87.0 percent).
Morgan, who had two steals, and Klingman each had five assists for Scranton, which committed just 11 turnovers.
Catholic was led by Fonville, who had 29 points, five rebounds and four assists. Junior guard Steve Limberiou (Pittsburgh, Pa./Upper St. Clair) added 22 points and six rebounds, and sophomore guard Kyle Phanord (Davie, Fla./University School) added 11.
The Cardinals shot 48.4 percent (31-for-64), including 8-for-17 (47.1 percent) from 3-point range, although they made just four of their last 13 from beyond the arc. Catholic committed just eight turnovers while making 12 of 17 free throws (70.6 percent).
Immediately following the game, Scranton held an induction ceremony for the seven newest members of its Wall of Fame: Liz Baumbach '03 (women's lacrosse), Bridget Lee '03 (women's lacrosse), Laura (Boersig) Castner '02 (field hockey), Darren Buseman '03 (wrestling), Valerie (Crist) Sherwin '88 (women's volleyball), Dan Loftus '03 (men's basketball) and Derek Elphick '03 (men's basketball).
The Royals return to action on Wednesday, Jan. 29, when they travel to Bethlehem, Pa. to take on Moravian in a Landmark Conference game at 7 p.m.
--ROYALS--