In a back-and-forth game that had The University of Scranton's John Long Center bursting with excitement in the second half, the pendulum swung in the Royals' favor at the end as they captured their second straight Landmark Conference men's basketball championship and fourth in five years with a 78-70 victory over Juniata College on Saturday evening.
With the victory, Scranton (20-7) earns an automatic bid into the NCAA Division III tournament, the 24th NCAA bid in school history and fifth in the past seven years. The tournament field along with the Royals' opponent, location and game time will be announced Monday. First-round games will be played March 1 and 2.
Five players scored in double figures for Scranton, led by 20 from sophomore guard Tommy Morgan (Greenlawn, N.Y./Chaminade) and 18 from senior forward Luke Hawk (Audubon, Pa./Methacton). Junior guard Travis Farrell (Middletown, N.J./Christian Brothers Academy) had 15 points, senior forward Matt Swaback (Kingston, Pa./Wyoming Seminary) scored 12 and freshman guard Ross Danzig (Clarks Summit, Pa./Abington Heights/Blair Academy, N.J.) added 11.
"It's been a magical run for this group of kids," said head coach Carl Danzig. "They have a no-quit attitude. I can't say enough about our upperclassmen and their leadership."
The Royals shot a season-high 56.9 percent (29-for-51) from the floor, including 61.1 percent (11 of 18) from 3-point range, also a season high. Morgan was 9-for-11 from the field while Farrell hit on 5-for-8. Swaback drilled four of seven from beyond the arc while Danzig hit three of four and Farrell hit three of five.
Scranton surged to an early 18-10 lead before Juniata stormed back to take a five-point lead just 1:09 before intermission. But Danzig buried a 3-pointer and Morgan made a steal and a layup to pull the Royals even at the break, 35-35.
The second half was tight throughout with neither team leading by more than four during a 12-minute span until Scranton went ahead, 67-62, on a three-point play by Hawk with 3:23 to play. Juniata scored eight points over the next three minutes, but it wasn't enough as Scranton scored on its final four field goal attempts, including back-to-back buckets by Morgan, the last with 16 seconds to play that gave Scranton a 74-69 lead.
The Royals hit four free throws in the final seconds to seal the victory. They made nine of 11 from the free throw line in the game.
"It doesn't get any better than that," Danzig said about the final minutes. "We had a lot of kids who made big plays. Everybody played a part and it was great that it wasn't one guy closing the deal. Everybody had a hand in it. That's how we've won all year."
Scranton had 22 assists on 29 made baskets as Morgan and Hawk handed out five apiece. Danzig led the Royals with seven rebounds while Morgan and Farrell had six each. Morgan also had a game-high three steals.
Juniata (18-9) was led by a game-high 21 points from senior guard Dan Sekulski (Douglassville, Pa./Daniel Boone Area). Sophomore guard Jeremy Hays (McMechen, W.Va./John Marshall) had 14 points off the bench and junior guard Alex Raymond (Hollidaysburg, Pa/Altoona) had 10.
--ROYALS--