Defending its home court in The Radisson Invitational is becoming a habit for The University of Scranton men's basketball team. The Royals used a hot-shooting second half to capture their third straight title and fifth in the event's 11-year history with an 81-69 victory over Baruch College in the championship game in the Long Center on Saturday afternoon.

Sophomore guard Ross Danzig (Clarks Green, Pa./Abington Heights/Blair Academy, N.J.) took home tournament MVP honors after scoring a game-high 22 points to go along with 13 rebounds and six assists as Scranton, ranked No. 18 in the D3hoops.com top 25, improved to 2-0.

Freshman forward Brendan Boken (South Pasadena, Calif./Loyola) had 16 points and seven rebounds, senior guard Travis Farrell (Middletown, N.J./Christian Brothers Academy) had 13 points and sophomore guard Michael Fee (Richboro, Pa./St. Joseph's Preparatory) added 11 points in the victory.

The Royals jumped out to a 22-10 lead with about eight minutes to go in the first half before Baruch slashed the lead to two a few minutes later. But Scranton finished the half with a flourish to take a 36-28 lead into the break behind eight points from Farrell, who earned all-tournament honors, and seven points and eight from Danzig.

After the break, Scranton came out and torched the net by shooting 57.1 percent (16-for-28) from the field. Boken canned five of his six shots in the second half and finished with 12 points after the break while Danzig poured in 15, including six from the free throw line.

For the game, Scranton shot 46.4 percent (26-for-56), including nine of 24 from 3-point range, led by Fee's 3-for-5 performance from beyond the arc. Baruch (1-1) shot 35.4 percent (23-for-65), including just 2-for-16 from 3-point range.

The Royals won the battle of the boards, 40-38, as junior forward Jason Pierce (Scranton, Pa./Conestoga/Lackawanna College) added five rebounds. Scranton also finished with 15 assists, including five from senior guard Tim Lavelle (Clarks Green, Pa./Scranton Preparatory) to help overcome 18 turnovers.

The Bearcats were led by 20 points from freshman guard Franklin Garcia (New York, N.Y./St. Raymond), who earned all-tournament honors.

In the third-place game, Oneonta State defeated York, 92-77, behind 22 points from all-tournament choice Jackson Zuvic (Cold Spring, N.Y./Haldane). York was led by 16 points, eight rebounds and seven steals from all-tournament honoree Todd Maciejewski (Red Lion, Pa./Red Lion).

Scranton returns to action on Tuesday, Nov. 20, when it travels to Dallas, Pa. to take on Misericordia at 7 p.m.

--ROYALS--