DALLAS, Pa.—University of Scranton men's basketball coach Carl Danzig has a lot to be thankful for this holiday season.

Especially after the Royals overcame a 13-point halftime deficit Tuesday evening to pull out a 60-57 victory over Misericordia University at the Anderson Center, Scranton's first win there since 2006.

Sophomore guard Ross Danzig (Clarks Green, Pa./Abington Heights/Blair Academy-NJ) scored a game and season-high 24 points, including 11 in the first half to keep the Royals within striking distance after it appeared as if the Cougars might win going away.  Misericordia shot over 57 percent from the field and out-rebounded Scranton, 19-9, in opening up a 35-22 halftime lead.

Danzig got Scranton back into contention immediately after intermission, scoring five straight points to ignite an 18-4 rally that included 3-pointers from senior guards Tim Lavelle (Clarks Green, Pa./Scranton Preparatory) and Travis Farrell (Middletown, NJ/Christian Brothers Academy) that gave the Royals a 40-39 lead with 13:30 remaining.  

Even though the Cougars cooled off considerably in the second half, they still managed to tie the game four times after Scranton's momentum-swinging run, the last of which came with 2:13 left on a lay-up by senior forward Steve Artzerounian (Vernon, Conn./Rockville).  

Steadily-improving sophomore guard Michael Fee (Richboro, Pa./St. Joseph's Preparatory) then put Scranton ahead for good with a jump shot with 1:58 remaining, and following two missed lay-ups by Artzerounian, Farrell connected on 1 of 2 free throws with 19 seconds left to set the final score.

Misericordia, now 2-1, had an opportunity to send it into overtime, but senior forward Justin Grotevant (Canadensis, Pa./Pocono Mountain East) missed a 3-pointer with four seconds remaining.  Artzerounian led the Cougars with 19 points and 12 rebounds and junior guard Matt Greene (Hokendauqua, Pa./Whitehall) finished with 12 points.

Lavelle and freshman forward/center Brendan Boken (South Pasadena, Calif./Loyola) finished with eight points apiece and Farrell had seven points, seven steals, and six rebounds for Scranton, which shot nearly 59 percent from the field in the second half and 50 percent for the game.  Misericordia, on the other hand, made just 7 of 19 field goal attempts (36.8 percent) after intermission.

The Royals will break for Thanksgiving before returning to action on Tuesday, November 27, against 2012 NCAA runner-up Cabrini College beginning at 7:00 p.m. at the Long Center.

News & Notes:  Scranton now leads the all-time series against Misericordia, 15-5…Tonight's was the Royals' first win at the Anderson Center since a 57-48 victory on November 21, 2006…Farrell is now nine points shy of becoming the 39th player in Scranton history to score 1000 points in a career…Ross Danzig's 24 points was four shy of tying his career-high of 28 against Moravian on February 18, 2012, in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

Newspaper Box Score
SCRANTON 60, MISERICORDIA 57

SCRANTON (3-0)
Ross Danzig 11-19 0-1 24; Brendan Boken 4-9 0-0 8; Tim Lavelle 3-8 0-0 8; Travis Farrell 3-6 1-3 7; Jason Pierce 3-4 0-0 6; Michael Fee 2-4 0-0 4; Michael Barr 1-2 0-0 3; Justin Klingman 0-1 0-0 0; Kyle Ranck 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 27-54 1-4 60.

MISERICORDIA (2-1)
Steve Artzerounian 8-13 3-4 19; Matt Greene 4-9 1-2 12; Joe Busacca 3-9 2-3 8; Justin Grotevant 3-8 0-0 6; Travis Buckner 2-3 0-0 6; Cael Evans 2-2 0-0 4; Steve Ware 1-1 0-0 2; Anthony Sergio 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 23-47 6-9 57.

Scranton......................   22   38  -   60
Misericordia..................   35   22  -  57