SCRANTON, Pa.—It seems only fitting that senior guard Zach Ashworth (Doylestown, Pa./Central Bucks West) provided the late-game heroics in The University of Scranton's 77-74 victory over Moravian in the Landmark Conference regular-season finale Saturday afternoon at the Long Center.

Honored before tip-off as part of Senior Day activities, Ashworth finished with a game-high 28 points on 9 of 14 shooting from the field and senior guard Luke Hawk (Audubon, Pa./Methacton) finished with 19 points as the Royals held on after nearly squandering a 15-point halftime lead.  With the win, Scranton improves to 18-5 overall and 11-3 in the Landmark Conference.

Moravian, which shot over 57 percent from the field in the second half after falling behind 45-30 at intermission, was led by sophomore guard Garrett Johnson (Allentown, Pa./William Allen) with 19 points and nine rebounds, sophomore center Blake Edwards (Sussex, N.J./Vernon Township) contributed 19 points, and sophomore guard D.J. Strayhorn (Swiftwater, Pa./Pocono Mountain East) finished with 14 points and seven assists. 

The loss was the eight straight for the Greyhounds, which end the season with a 9-16 overall record and a 3-11 mark in the conference.

Ashworth was unstoppable in the first half, draining 6 of 7 shots from the field, including all four of his 3-point field goal attempts, to finish with 18 first-half points as the Royals shot nearly 66 percent to take what appeared to be a comfortable lead by intermission.

Moravian, to its credit, refused to go away. 

Blake scored seven points, Johnson five and Strayhorn four during a 27-12 run to tie the score at 57 with 9:24 remaining.  The Greyhounds answered with another spurt—a 13-8 run over the next six minutes—to take a 70-65 lead with 3:24 left.

Ashworth then took over when the Royals needed him most.  He buried back-to-back 3-pointers around a Greyhound turnover to give Scranton a 71-70 advantage with 2:34 remaining.

After Moravian missed three shots on their next possession, Royal junior forward Edmond O'Connell (Somers, N.Y./Kennedy Catholic) hit one of two free throws before the Greyhounds tied the game for the final time on a lay-up by Strayhorn with 1:34 remaining.

Junior forward Matt Swaback (Kingston, Pa./Wyoming Seminary) gave the Royals' the lead for good with a 3-pointer at the top of the key with 42 second left, 75-72, off of a baseline pass from O'Connell.  Moravian then missed two 3-pointers on their next possession before Scranton sophomore point-guard Travis Farrell (Middletown, N.J./Christian Brothers Academy) sealed it by knocking down two free throws with five seconds left.

Swaback finished with 10 points, seven assists, three rebounds and two blocks and Farrell had six points and eight rebounds.  The Royals shot nearly 57 percent for the game, but were guilty of 16 turnovers and made just 8 of 16 attempts from the free throw line.

Scranton will enter the upcoming Landmark Conference tournament this Wednesday, February 23, and will host fourth-seeded Merchant Marine Academy at 7:30 p.m.  The two teams split their regular-season games this year, with each team winning on their home court.  Scranton defeated the Mariners, 76-68, at the Long Center on January 9, while Merchant Marine downed the Royals, 86-66, on January 28 in Kings Point, New York.

News & Notes:  Ashworth's 28 points moved him into sixth place on the Royals' all-time scoring list with 1,719 points, surpassing Bill Witaconis (1,712, 1961-1965) and Jason Hoppy (1,717, 1989-1993)…Scranton enters the Landmark Conference tournament as the number one seed for the second time in four years; the Royals were the top seed in 2009…the Royals are 12-1 this year and 110-25 (.815) under 10th-year head coach Carl Danzig at the Long Center.

Newspaper Box Score
SCRANTON 77, MORAVIAN 74

MORAVIAN (9-16/3-11 Landmark)
Blake English 9-15 0-0 19; Garrett Johnson 7-13 2-2 19; D.J. Strayhorn 7-16 0-0 14; Chris Cullen 4-13 0-1 8; Ryan O'Donnell 3-5 0-0 7; Marcus Hardy 2-2 0-0 4; Cameron Cullen 1-1 0-0 2; Mark Koelbel 0-0 1-2 1; Jeff Cullinan 0-0 0-0 0; Kenny Gula 0-4 0-0 0. Totals 33-69 3-5 74.

SCRANTON (18-5/11-3 Landmark)
Zach Ashworth 9-14 3-5 28; Luke Hawk 7-9 1-4 15; Matt Swaback 4-10 1-2 10; Edmond O'Connell 3-5 1-3 7; Travis Farrell 2-6 2-2 6; Dan Hilferty 2-2 0-0 5; Andrew Wynne 2-3 0-0 4; Tim Lavelle 1-4 0-0 2; Michael Barr 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 30-53 8-16 77.

Moravian......................   30   44  -   74
The University of Scranton....   45   32  -   77

3-point goals--Moravian 5-16 (Garrett Johnson 3-4; Ryan O'Donnell 1-1; Blake English 1-1; Kenny Gula 0-3; Chris Cullen 0-5; D.J. Strayhorn 0-2), The University of Scranton 9-18 (Zach Ashworth 7-9; Matt Swaback 1-4; Dan Hilferty 1-1; Travis Farrell 0-1; Tim Lavelle 0-2; Luke Hawk 0-1). Fouled out--Moravian-None, The University of Scranton-None. Rebounds--Moravian 33 (Garrett Johnson 9), The University of Scranton 29 (Edmond O'Connell 8; Travis Farrell 8). Assists--Moravian 14 (D.J. Strayhorn 7), The University of Scranton 25 (Matt Swaback 7). Total fouls--Moravian 17, The University of Scranton 10. Technical fouls--Moravian-None, The University of Scranton-None. A-450