SCRANTON, Pa.—If the University of Scranton hangs on as the top seed in the Landmark Conference, it will point to today's gut-wrenching 79-64 victory over Catholic University at the Long Center as the game that set it in motion.

Playing without senior guard Luke Hawk (Audubon, Pa./Methacton), who suffered a wrist injury in Friday's 73-64 victory over Goucher College, the Royals got it usual performances from senior guard Zach Ashworth (Doylestown, Pa./Central Bucks West) and sophomore point-guard Travis Farrell (Middletown, N.J./Christian Brothers) and a big lift from sophomore guard Tim Lavelle (Scranton, Pa./Scranton Preparatory) off the bench to down a Cardinal team that had won its last four games by double-digit margins.

Ashworth scored 19 of his game-high 22 points in the second half, Farrell had 20 points and seven rebounds, and Lavelle drained 5 of 8 shots from the field to finish with a career-high 14 points as the Royals improved to 16-4 overall and 9-2 in the Landmark Conference.    Senior forward Jason Banzhaf (Livingston, N.J./Seton Hall Preparatory) led Catholic, now 15-7 overall and 6-5 in the conference, with 21 points and 11 rebounds and sophomore forward/center Chris Kearney (Centreville, Va./Westfield) had 16 points and four blocks.

Catholic made no bones about its game plan, pushing the ball down low to Banzhaf and Kearney.  They combined for 21 first half points as the Cardinals shot 50 percent from the field to take a 33-30 halftime lead.  Scranton, which struggled at times against Catholic's 2-3 zone, stayed within contention behind eight points by Lavelle (on 3 of 4 shooting from the field) and Farrell (on 3 of 6 from the field).

Banzhaf and Kearney continued their assault down low early in the second half as the Cardinals built up a seven-point advantage, 40-33, with 17:47 left.

Then the Royals put together their most impressive run of the season, turning what appeared to be a knock-down, drag-out contest into a rout.

Trailing 48-44 with 13:18 left, Scranton buried five 3-pointers—three by Ashworth and two by Lavelle—during a 20-2 spurt over a five-minute span that completely changed the game's complexion.  Farrell did his part, too, scoring five points as the Royals' lead mushroomed to 18, 68-50.  Catholic shaved the margin to 12 with 5:38 left before Ashworth converted a traditional 3-point play to end any hopes of a Cardinal comeback.

Lavelle was far from the only unsung hero for Scranton today.  Senior forward Andrew Wynne (Fairport, N.Y./McQuaid Jesuit), making the first start of the season and the second of his career, settled down after a shaky start and finished with four points, five rebounds and two blocks and junior Edmond O'Connell (Somers, N.Y./Kennedy Catholic) had six rebounds—five in the second half—a block and a steal in 23 minutes of action.

Scranton shot nearly 60 percent in the second half (16 of 27 from the field) to finish 48.3 percent for the game.  The Royals also connected on nearly 48 percent of their 3-point field goal attempts, came through with nine steals, including three by Farrell, and turned the ball over only 13 times. 

Scranton is still clinging to a one-game lead over Drew University for first place in the Landmark Conference.  The Royals will play their final two road games this Friday, February 11, against Susquehanna University at 5:30 p.m. in Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania, and on Saturday, February 12, versus Juniata College in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, at 4:00 p.m.  Scranton will end its regular season on Saturday, February 19, against Moravian College at the Long Center beginning at 4:00 p.m.

News & Notes:  Scranton has now won nine of its 10 meetings against Catholic since the two schools became Landmark Conference members in 2007…Ashworth's 22 points moved him into 10th place on the Royals' all-time scoring list with 1,648 points, moving ahead of three-time all-American Bill Bessoir (1,630 points, 1982-1985)…Lavelle's previous career-high was a 13-point effort against Bard College on November 21, 2009, at the Long Center…junior forward Matt Swaback (Kingston, Pa./Wyoming Seminary) finished with 10 points, two rebounds and two assists for the Royals, while Cardinal senior guard RJ Dixon (Charlotte, N.C./Cannon School) had 13 points, five rebounds and five assists…Hawk missed his first game of the season today and is currently the Royals' second-leading scorer (14.6) and rebounder (5.5).

Newspaper Box Score
SCRANTON 79, CATHOLIC 64

CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY (15-7/6-5 Landmark)
Jason Banzhaf 9-17 3-4 21; Chris Kearney 6-10 4-6 16; RJ Dixon 5-13 1-2 13; Shawn Holmes 2-5 2-2 6; Pete Schramm 2-5 0-0 4; Andy Roell 1-2 0-1 2; Spencer Reed 1-1 0-0 2; Gabe Estrada 0-3 0-0 0; Brian Baker 0-1 0-0 0; Derek Puhalski 0-0 0-0 0; Nate Koenig 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 26-59 10-15 64.

SCRANTON (16-4/9-2 Landmark)
Zach Ashworth 6-13 5-5 22; Travis Farrell 8-13 2-3 20; Tim Lavelle 5-8 0-1 14; Matt Swaback 4-7 2-2 10; Tommy Morgan 3-9 2-2 8; Andrew Wynne 2-3 0-0 4; Edmond O'Connell 0-4 1-2 1; Nick Jaskula 0-0 0-0 0; Dan Hilferty 0-0 0-0 0; Pat Mineo 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 28-58 12-15 79.

Catholic University...........   33   31  -   64
The University of Scranton....   30   49  -   79

3-point goals--Catholic University 2-14 (RJ Dixon 2-6; Shawn Holmes 0-1; Andy Roell 0-1; Gabe Estrada 0-2; Brian Baker 0-1; Jason Banzhaf 0-3), The University of Scranton 11-23 (Zach Ashworth 5-7; Tim Lavelle 4-6; Travis Farrell 2-4; Pat Mineo 0-1; Tommy Morgan 0-2; Matt Swaback 0-3). Fouled out--Catholic University-None, The University of Scranton-None. Rebounds--Catholic University 31 (Jason Banzhaf 11), The University of Scranton 37 (Travis Farrell 7). Assists--Catholic University 16 (RJ Dixon 5), The University of Scranton 15 (Tim Lavelle 5). Total fouls—Catholic University 11, The University of Scranton 12. Technical fouls—Catholic University-None, The University of Scranton-None. A-550