WASHINGTON, D.C.—After playing a majority of its Landmark Conference games at home, The University of Scranton validated its first-place standing in the league with a convincing 78-68 victory over preseason favorite Catholic University in the first of a four-game road trip Friday evening at the DuFour Center.
And once again, it was Royal senior guard Zach Ashworth (Doylestown, Pa./Central Bucks West) who was a thorn in the side of the Cardinals, finishing with a career-high 31 points to eclipse his previous high of 29 points against Catholic nearly one year ago on the same court.
Scranton, which won its 11th straight game to improve to 13-2 overall and 6-0 in the Landmark Conference, also received 11 points from freshman guard Tommy Morgan (Greenlawn, N.Y./Chaminade), nine points from nine points and 10 rebounds from sophomore guard Travis Farrell (Middletown, N.J./Christian Brothers Academy), and nine points from senior guard Luke Hawk (Audubon, Pa./Methacton), all in the second half.
Senior guard R.J. Dixon (Charlotte, NC/Cannon School) led the Cardinals, now 11-6 overall and 2-4 in the conference, with 24 points and senior forward Jason Banzhaf (Livingston, N.J./Seton Hall Preparatory) had 16 points and a game-high 16 rebounds.
Ashworth came out of the locker room blazing, knocking down four 3-pointers to finish with 19 first-half points as the Royals built up a five-point lead despite shooting only 33.3 percent from the field. The Cardinals, behind 12 points from Dixon and 10 points and seven rebounds from Banzhaf, shot nearly 52 percent from the floor in the first half but were out-rebounded 23-15.
Hawk, Farrell and Morgan picked up their play in the second half, combining for 24 points and eight rebounds as the Royals built up several double-digit leads.
Still, the Cardinals continue to fight back and made things uncomfortable down the stretch.
They cut a 10-point lead down to five with 3:34 left on a lay-up by Banzhaf. Hawk then scored down low and Farrell converted a traditional 3-point play after a critical turnover by Dixon extended Scranton's lead to 10-points with two minutes to play. The Cardinals never got closer than 10 points the rest of the way.
The Royals regrouped after halftime, connecting on 12 of 23 field goal attempts (52.2 percent) to finish 41.5 percent for the game. Scranton also enjoyed a 45-37 rebounding advantage and turned nine offensive rebounds into 13 second-chance points.
Things went downhill for the Cardinals after the break. They shot just 33.3 percent in the second half, including a 2-10 effort (20 percent) from the 3-point arc and finished just 4 of 17 (23.5 percent) for the game.
Ashworth also finished with six rebounds, two assists and two rebounds. In addition, he surpassed Brian O'Donnell (1532 points, 2001-2005) for 14th place on the Royals' all-time scoring list (1,547).
The Royals will head north to Towson, Maryland, to take on the Gophers of Goucher College tomorrow evening at 5:30 p.m. in the Decker Sports & Recreation Center.
News & Notes: Scranton now leads the all-time series with Catholic, 29-16...the Royals have also won the last six meetings against the Cardinals…Royals were 25 of 36 from the free throw line (69.4 percent)…Scranton will host Catholic at the Long Center on Saturday, February 5…Ashworth is 15 points from moving ahead of Joe Fitt (1560 points, 1951-1955) and Jason Fisher (1561, 1995-1999) into 12th place on the Scranton all-time scoring list.
Newspaper Box Score
SCRANTON 78, CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY 68
THE UNIVERSITY OF SCRANTON (13-2/6-0 Landmark)
Zach Ashworth 7-17 12-16 31; Tommy Morgan 4-8 2-6 11; Luke Hawk 4-5 1-3 9; Travis Farrell 2-9 5-5 9; Edmond O'Connell 1-2 2-2 5; Matt Swaback 1-3 3-4 5; Tim Lavelle 1-2 0-0 3; Andrew Wynne 1-4 0-0 2; Dan Hilferty 1-3 0-0 3. Totals 22-53 25-36 78.
CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY (11-6/2-4 Landmark)
RJ Dixon 10-21 2-4 24; Jason Banzhaf 8-16 0-2 16; Spencer Reed 3-4 0-0 6; Chris Kearney 2-7 2-4 6; Brian Baker 2-6 0-1 5; Nate Koenig 1-3 2-2 5; Andy Roell 2-4 0-0 4; Shawn Holmes 1-8 0-0 2; Gabe Estrada 0-0 0-0 0; Matt Stone 0-1 0-0 0; Pete Schramm 0-0 0-2 0. Totals 29-70 6-15 68.
The University of Scranton.... 40 38 - 78
Catholic University........... 35 33 - 68
3-point goals--The University of Scranton 9-24 (Zach Ashworth 5-13; Tommy Morgan 1-2; Tim Lavelle 1-1; Edmond O'Connell 1-1; Andrew Wynne 0-1; Dan Hilferty 1-2; Matt Swaback 0-1; Travis Farrell 0-3), Catholic University 4-17 (RJ Dixon 2-6; Brian Baker 1-4; Nate Koenig 1-1; Andy Roell 0-2; Shawn Holmes 0-1; Jason Banzhaf 0-3). Fouled out--The University of Scranton-None, Catholic University-Nate Koenig; Andy Roell. Rebounds--The University of Scranton 45 (Travis Farrell 10), Catholic University 37 (Jason Banzhaf 16). Assists--The University of Scranton 13 (Travis Farrell 3; Luke Hawk 3), Catholic University 14 (RJ Dixon 8). Total fouls--The University of Scranton 16, Catholic University 23. Technical fouls--The University of Scranton-None, Catholic University-None. A-579