SCRANTON, Pa.—The University of Scranton opened a key two-game Landmark Conference home stand against Goucher College Friday evening at the Long Center sorely needing a victory.
After recent losses to the Merchant Marine Academy and Drew University cut the Royals' three-game first-place lead down to one, Scranton overcame an emotional first half by the Gophers to squeeze out a 73-64 victory.
Senior guard Zach Ashworth (Doylestown, Pa./Central Bucks West) led the Royals, now 15-4 overall and 8-2 in the conference, with 23 points and senior guard Luke Hawk (Audubon, Pa./Methacton) scored 10 of his 19 points in the second half as Scranton erased a three-point halftime deficit.
Freshman guard Colby Giacubeno (Baltimore, Md./Perry Hall) led Goucher, now 4-13 overall and 2-8 in the Landmark Conference, with 23 points, junior guard Shane Yambor (Burtonsville, Md./Paint Branch) added 16 points, and sophomore forward Trae Lindsay (Baltimore, Md./Patapsco) finished with 10 points and 12 rebounds.
The Gophers looked nothing like the team the Royals handed easily, 70-47, in the first meeting two weeks ago in Towson, Maryland. They blocked seven of their school-record 12 shots in the first half and Giacubeno buried 5 of 8 shots from the field to score 16 points as the Gophers opened up a 35-32 halftime lead.
Goucher aggressive play on the defensive end rattled the Royals, who shot only 35 percent from the field in the first half, including just 4 of 13 from beyond the 3-point arc.
Scranton picked up its defensive intensity considerably in the second half, especially after falling behind by five, 37-32, with 19:04 left. The Royals, who pressured Goucher into turning the ball over 17 times in the second half, tied it twice and then held the Gophers to two points during a seven-minute span to take a 49-41 lead with 10:40 left. Scranton then opened up a 14-point advantage before the Gophers managed to cut the margin to seven twice in the final 30 seconds of play.
Despite shooting just 38.6 percent from the field, the Royals took advantage of Goucher's 26 turnovers by converting them into 33 points. Scranton also connected on 12 of 14 free throw attempts and held a 34-20 advantage in points in the paint.
The Royals will host Catholic University, which defeated Moravian College, 72-50, this evening at Johnston Hall in Bethlehem, tomorrow afternoon at 4:00 p.m. Scranton still holds a one-game lead over Drew University and two over Catholic with four games remaining in the regular season.
News & Notes: Prior to tip-off, Ashworth was presented the 59th annual John 'Les' Dickman Award as the Royals' most valuable player (MVP), becoming the third repeat winner in school history; the other two were Dan Loftus (2002, 2003) and Brian O'Donnell (2004, 2005)…Ashworth moved ahead of Charles Nanick (1,607 points, 1993-1997) into 11th place on the Royals' all-time scoring list with 1,626 points…former Scranton Preparatory standout and sophomore guard Pat Mineo (Scranton, Pa.) came off the bench in the first half and gave Scranton a lift by knocking down both of his shot attempts to finish with five points in six minutes of action…Royal bench out-scored the Gopher reserves, 14-8…Scranton is now 8-0 all-time against Goucher College.
Newspaper Box Score
SCRANTON 73, GOUCHER 64
GOUCHER (4-13/2-8 Landmark)
Colby Giacubeno 8-13 3-3 23; Shane Yambor 5-14 2-3 16; Trae Lindsay 4-11 2-4 10; Marcus Cotton 3-5 1-3 7; Tim Alexander 1-3 3-3 6; Donte Brandon 1-1 0-0 2; Dylan Chaney 0-0 0-0 0; Leroy Williams 0-2 0-0 0; Jason Jones 0-0 0-0 0; Kyle Gladden 0-0 0-0 0; Lovell Kosh 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 22-49 11-16 64.
SCRANTON (15-4/8-2 Landmark)
Zach Ashworth 8-20 5-5 23; Luke Hawk 7-12 4-5 19; Matt Swaback 2-8 1-2 6; Tommy Morgan 3-8 0-0 6; Travis Farrell 2-7 0-0 5; Tim Lavelle 2-4 0-0 5; Pat Mineo 2-2 0-0 5; Andrew Wynne 1-5 2-2 4; Dan Hilferty 0-1 0-0 0; Edmond O'Connell 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 27-70 12-14 73.
Goucher....................... 35 29 - 64
The University of Scranton.... 32 41 - 73
3-point goals--Goucher 9-15 (Shane Yambor 4-7; Colby Giacubeno 4-5; Tim Alexander 1-3), The University of Scranton 7-25 (Zach Ashworth 2-8; Tim Lavelle 1-3; Travis Farrell 1-3; Luke Hawk 1-3; Matt Swaback 1-4; Pat Mineo 1-1; Dan Hilferty 0-1; Edmond O'Connell 0-1; Tommy Morgan 0-1). Fouled out--Goucher-None, The University of Scranton-None. Rebounds--Goucher 40 (Trae Lindsay 12), The University of Scranton 34 (Matt Swaback 9). Assists--Goucher 12 (Dylan Chaney 5), The University of Scranton 18 (Tommy Morgan 5). Total fouls--Goucher 14, The University of Scranton 16. Technical fouls--Goucher-None, The University of Scranton-None. A-400