WAYNE, NJ—A Herculean effort got a huge monkey off The University of Scranton's men's basketball team's back Friday evening against Messiah College in an NCAA first-round game at the Recreation Center on the campus of William Paterson University.

Having lost their last five NCAA tournament games and having failed to get out of the first round since 2003, the Royals overcame an 18-point second-half deficit to stun the Falcons, 70-67, in overtime.

"This has to be the largest comeback I've ever been involved in," said Scranton head coach Carl Danzig, who recorded his 200th career victory and joins legendary coach Bob Bessoir as the only coaches in Royal history to win 200 games.  "This is just a great group of kids and they have that never-give-up attitude."

Senior guard Luke Hawk (Audubon, Pa./Methacton) led Scranton, which won its fourth straight and ninth in its last 10 games to improve to 21-7, with 20 points.  Freshman guard Ross Danzig (Clarks Green, Pa./Abington Heights/Blair Academy-NJ) and sophomore guard Tommy Morgan (Greenlawn, NY/Chaminade) added 16 points apiece, and junior guard Travis Farrell (Middletown, NJ/Christian Brothers Academy) had 11 for the Royals, who will meet the winner of Becker College (23-4)/William Paterson (24-3) Saturday evening at 7:00 p.m.

Sophomore guard David Fernandez (Miami, Fla./Florida Christian School) scored 22 points and freshman forward Craig Bowen (Westminster, Md./Westminster) added 14 for the Messiah, which puts the wraps on a 20-7 season.

The methodical Falcons ran their offensive sets to perfection.  They carved out an early 7-point lead, led by four at intermission, and appeared to have the game in check midway through the second half after the Royals went scoreless for more than seven minutes after Scranton closed to 32-31, with 15:12 remaining.   Junior guard Derek Moseley hit a pair of 3-pointers to spark a 17-0 run as Messiah built up what appeared to be an insurmountable 49-31 lead with 8:06 left.

"Hats off to Messiah," said Hawk.  "They had us flustered the entire first half and the first part of the second half.  Then we just caught fire."

Hawk wasn't about to put the wraps on his outstanding career.  He ignited the game-deciding 30-12 rally with a 3-pointer that included a pair of three pointers from Farrell, one from Morgan, and the one that Royal fans will remember for years to come—the one that tied it with 1.2 seconds remaining by senior forward Matt Swaback (Kingston, Pa./Wyoming Seminary), which turned out to be his only basket of the game.

"We have a lot of veterans on this team and we have the confidence that when we get down we feel like we're going to win," said Hawk.  "That was Swaback's first shot he made and it was a crazy shot.  He was three feet beyond the (3-point) line, but I knew it was going in when he shot it."

Hawk then opened the overtime period with a jump shot and Danzig followed with a thunderous dunk to give Scranton the lead for good, 65-61.  Messiah twice cut the lead to two, the last of which came on a 3-pointer by senior guard Trey Ritzman (East Salem, Pa./Greenwood) with 56 seconds remaining.  Farrell then hit one of two free throws with eight seconds left and Moseley missed a potential game-tying 3-pointer on Messiah's final possession.

Scranton, which shot only 39 percent in the first half, stayed in contention behind 12 first-half points by Danzig. "I had a lot of adrenaline," he said.  "I was excited to finally have the chance to play on this level."

Danzig and his teammates will also get an opportunity to avenge NCAA tournament losses Saturday evening.  The Royals met Becker College in last year's field in Williamstown, Massachusetts, and lost 80-73.  Scranton lost to William Paterson, 70-46, in 2006.

Newspaper Box Score
SCRANTON 70, MESSIAH 67

SCRANTON (21-7)
Luke Hawk 8-13 2-7 20; Tommy Morgan 7-13 0-0 16; Ross Danzig 6-12 3-3 16; Travis Farrell 3-9 3-4 11; Matt Swaback 1-3 0-0 3; Nick Jaskula 1-2 0-0 2; Tim Lavelle 1-2 0-0 2; Dan Hilferty 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 27-56 8-14 70.

MESSIAH (20-7)
David Fernandez 8-15 5-9 22; Brad Bolen 5-15 3-4 14; Derek Mosley 3-7 2-2 11; Zach Hoy 2-7 4-5 9; Trey Ritzman 2-4 0-0 5; Jeremiah Runkle 2-3 0-0 4; Christyan DeVan 1-3 0-0 2; Taylor Groff 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-54 14-20 67.

Scranton......................   24   37    9  -   70
Messiah.......................   28   33    6  -   67

3-point goals--Scranton 8-18 (Travis Farrell 2-5; Tommy Morgan 2-3; Luke Hawk 2-2; Matt Swaback 1-2; Ross Danzig 1-4; Dan Hilferty 0-1; Tim Lavelle 0-1), Messiah 7-19 (Derek Mosley 3-7; Brad Bolen 1-5; Zach Hoy 1-3; David Fernandez 1-1; Trey Ritzman 1-3). Fouled out--Scranton-Matt Swaback, Messiah-Jeremiah Runkle. Rebounds--Scranton 35 (Travis Farrell 7), Messiah 32 (Jeremiah Runkle 9). Assists--Scranton 9 (Ross Danzig 3), Messiah 12 (Christyan DeVan 3; Zach Hoy 3; Brad Bolen 3). Total fouls--Scranton 21, Messiah 18. Technical fouls--Scranton-None, Messiah-None. NCAA Tournament First Round
Scranton advances, to play WP/Becker winner 3/3 at 7:00 p.m.