KINGS POINT, N.Y.—A six-minute drought to start the second half turned out to be costly for The University of Scranton in an 86-66 loss to the Merchant Marine Academy in Landmark Conference action Friday evening at O'Hara Hall.

With the Royals struggling, the Mariners took advantage by scoring 10 straight points during an 22-6 run to turn a four-point halftime lead into a 20-point cushion.  The closest Scranton got the rest of the way was 11 points before the Mariners drained a number of free throws down the stretch to put the game away.

Senior guard Tom Izzo (Bridgeport, W.Va./Bridgeport) and senior forward Matt Hueber (Alexandria, Va./Gonzaga College High School) paced the Mariners, now 10-9 overall and 4-4 in the Landmark Conference, with 18 and 12 points, respectively, and junior guard Kevin Kerr (Oakdale, N.Y./St. Anthony's) added 11.

Senior guards Zach Ashworth (Doylestown, Pa./Central Bucks West) and Luke Hawk (Audubon, Pa./Methacton) led the Royals, now 14-3 overall and 7-1 in the conference, with 16 points apiece and sophomore guards Tim Lavelle (Clarks Green, Pa./Scranton Preparatory) and Pat Mineo (Scranton, Pa./Scranton Preparatory) chipped in 10 and 9 points, respectively.  The loss snapped a season-long 14-game winning streak for Scranton, its longest since the 1993 season.

Mineo hit back-to-back 3-pointers during a spurt that cut the lead to 11 with nine minutes remaining, but the Mariners were on fire and refused to wilt.  They connected on 13 of 21 field goal attempts (61.9 percent) in the second half to finish 55 percent for the game.  With the Royals forced to foul to stop the clock, the Merchant Marine Academy responded by making 17 of 24 free throw attempts in the final 20 minutes of play and were 26 of 35 (74.3 percent) for the game.

The Royals will close out a four-game Landmark Conference road trip tomorrow against Drew University at the Baldwin Gymnasium in Madison, New Jersey, beginning at 4:00 p.m.

News & Notes:  Mineo's nine points was a career-high, eclipsing his previous high of eight points against John Carroll on November 22, 2009, at the Long Center…both of Lavelle's season-high 10-point efforts came against the Merchant Marine Academy…The Royals hold a slight 7-6 lead in the all-time series against the Mariners…Scranton is now 1-3 against the Merchant Marine Academy at O'Hara Hall.

Newspaper Box Score
MERCHANT MARINE ACAD 86, THE UNIVERSITY OF SCRANTON 66

SCRANTON (14-3/7-1 Landmark)
Luke Hawk 5-7 4-6 16; Zach Ashworth 2-9 11-12 16; Tim Lavelle 3-6 4-4 10; Pat Mineo 3-4 0-0 9; Matt Swaback 3-8 0-1 7; Tommy Morgan 2-9 0-2 4; Edmond O'Connell 1-2 0-0 2; Nick Jaskula 1-1 0-1 2; Matt FitzPatrick 0-0 0-0 0; Andrew Wynne 0-1 0-0 0; Travis Farrell 0-5 0-2 0; Michael Barr 0-0 0-0 0; Mike Marchman 0-0 0-0 0; Dan Hilferty 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 20-53 19-28 66.

MERCHANT MARINE ACADEMY (10-9/4-4 Landmark)
Tom Izzo 4-13 10-14 18; Matt Hueber 3-3 5-6 12; Kevin Kerr 3-4 2-4 11; Richard Roach 4-6 1-1 9; Jeffrey Mark 4-9 0-0 8; Reed Buck 3-5 0-0 7; Michael Farace 1-3 4-4 6; Bryan Lynch 2-2 0-0 5; Zach Karczewski 2-2 1-2 5; Frankie Wiseley 1-1 1-2 3; Denver Effland 0-1 2-2 2; Nick Sergio 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 27-49 26-35 86.

The University of Scranton....   35   31  -   66
Merchant Marine Acad..........   39   47  -   86

3-point goals--The University of Scranton 7-24 (Pat Mineo 3-3; Luke Hawk 2-3; Zach Ashworth 1-6; Matt Swaback 1-6; Travis Farrell 0-2; Dan Hilferty 0-1; Tommy Morgan 0-2; Tim Lavelle 0-1), Merchant Marine Acad 6-9 (Kevin Kerr 3-4; Bryan Lynch 1-1; Matt Hueber 1-1; Reed Buck 1-1; Tom Izzo 0-2). Fouled out--The University of Scranton-None, Merchant Marine Acad-None. Rebounds--The University of Scranton 27 (Matt Swaback 4; Luke Hawk 4), Merchant Marine Acad 36 (Richard Roach 8). Assists--The University of Scranton 10 (Travis Farrell 3), Merchant Marine Acad 10 (Tom Izzo 2; Matt Hueber 2; Kevin Kerr 2). Total fouls--The University of Scranton 25, Merchant Marine Acad 24. Technical fouls--The University of Scranton-None, Merchant Marine Acad-None. A-109