SELINSGROVE, Pa.—The University of Scranton is now one win away from home-court advantage throughout the upcoming Landmark Conference tournament.
The Royals opened up a two-game lead with two games remaining in the regular season with an emotional 86-77 victory over Susquehanna University Friday evening at Houts Gymnasium. Scranton, now 17-4 overall and 10-2 in the conference, overcame the loss of freshman guard Tommy Morgan (Greenlawn, N.Y./Chaminade), who suffered a concussion in the first half and was taken by an ambulance to a local hospital.
Senior guards Zach Ashworth (Doylestown, Pa./Central Bucks West) and Luke Hawk (Audubon, Pa./Methacton) picked up the slack by scoring 25 and 22 points, respectively, and sophomore point-guard Travis Farrell (Middletown, N.J./Christian Brothers Academy) added 19 as Scranton overcame a one-point halftime deficit.
Senior guard Rob Estep (York, Pa./West York) paced the Crusaders, now 9-14 overall and 5-7 in the Landmark Conference, with 22 points, sophomore forward J.T. Wilson (Sparta, N.J./Pope John XXIII Regional) finished with 16 points and 15 rebounds, freshman center Harley Sellinger (Mill Hall, Pa./Central Mountain) had 16 points and seven rebounds, and sophomore guard forward Harvey Pannell (Bloomfield, Conn./St. Thomas More) contributed 12 points and six assists.
Ashworth continued his second-half heroics once again this evening, scoring 17 points—the ninth time in his last 11 games that he's scored in double figures after intermission—and Farrell had 11 points and eight rebounds in the final 20 minutes of play as Scranton opened the second half on a 24-8 run over an 8-minute span to build up a 15-point lead. The Royals made six 3-pointers during the spurt, including two by junior forward Matt Swaback (Kingston, Pa./Wyoming Seminary) to open the half.
And yet, the Crusaders refused to go away quietly.
Susquehanna made a last ditch effort to pull out the win in the closing minute, shaving a 10-point deficit with 1:20 remaining down to three, 80-77, before Ashworth buried four straight free throws around a missed 3-pointer by Wilson to give Scranton enough breathing room. Farrell canned two charity tosses with nine seconds left to set the final score.
After missing last Saturday's 79-64 win over Catholic at the Long Center due to a wrist injury, Hawk returned to the lineup and provided a much-needed spark in the first half by finishing with 14 points on 6 of 8 shooting from the field.
Scranton will play its final road game of the regular season tomorrow afternoon against Juniata College at the Kennedy Sports & Recreation Center in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, at 4:00 p.m. The Royals will end the regular season next Saturday, February 19, against Moravian College at the Long Center, also at 4:00 p.m.
News & Notes: Tonight's win was Scranton's first over Susquehanna at Houts Gymnasium since an 80-72 victory on November 19, 2005…Ashworth moved into eighth place on the Royals' all-time scoring list tonight with 1,673 points, moving ahead of Mickey Banas (1,649, 1980-1984) and Ed Kazakavich, the first all-American in the program's history (1,661, 1956-1959).
Newspaper Box Score
SCRANTON 86, SUSQUEHANNA 77
SCRANTON (17-4/10-2 Landmark)
Zach Ashworth 7-14 7-8 25; Luke Hawk 8-12 5-9 22; Travis Farrell 6-11 5-6 19; Dan Hilferty 3-4 1-2 8; Matt Swaback 2-8 0-0 6; Andrew Wynne 2-4 0-0 4; Tommy Morgan 1-3 0-0 2; Edmond O'Connell 0-2 0-0 0; Pat Mineo 0-2 0-0 0; Tim Lavelle 0-4 0-1 0. Totals 29-64 18-26 86.
SUSQUEHANNA (9-14/5-7 Landmark)
Rob Estep 7-18 6-7 22; J.T. Wilson 5-15 4-4 16; Harley Sellinger 5-6 6-7 16; Harvey Pannell 5-12 2-2 12; Spenser Spencer 4-14 1-1 9; Scott Marcinek 0-0 2-2 2; Wally Rutecki 0-0 0-0 0; Trevor Williamson 0-0 0-2 0; E.J. Duncan 0-0 0-0 0; Jason Dawson 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 26-68 21-25 77.
The University of Scranton.... 40 46 - 86
Susquehanna................... 41 36 - 77
3-point goals--The University of Scranton 10-25 (Zach Ashworth 4-7; Matt Swaback 2-6; Travis Farrell 2-4; Dan Hilferty 1-1; Luke Hawk 1-1; Pat Mineo 0-2; Tim Lavelle 0-2; Tommy Morgan 0-1; Andrew Wynne 0-1), Susquehanna 4-25 (Rob Estep 2-7; J.T. Wilson 2-10; Spenser Spencer 0-8). Fouled out--The University of Scranton-None, Susquehanna-None. Rebounds--The University of Scranton 42 (Travis Farrell 9), Susquehanna 42 (J.T. Wilson 15). Assists--The University of Scranton 15 (Luke Hawk 3; Edmond O'Connell 3), Susquehanna 14 (Harvey Pannell 6). Total fouls--The University of Scranton 20, Susquehanna 22. Technical fouls--The University of Scranton-Luke Hawk, Susquehanna-None.