BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The University of Scranton men's basketball team made a series of key plays in the closing minutes to slip past Moravian College, 71-66, in Johnston Hall on Wednesday evening. The victory secures the No. 2 seed in the upcoming Landmark Conference playoffs for the Royals.
The Royals improved to 18-6 overall and 9-4 in the Landmark Conference, two games behind first place Catholic (21-4, 11-2) with one game to play. The Royals have a one-game cushion over third-place Juniata (16-8, 8-5), but hold the tie-breaker over the Eagles after beating them twice.
Sophomore guard Ross Danzig (Clarks Green, Pa./Abington Heights/Blair Academy, N.J.) led Scranton with 15 points, including 12 in the second half. Senior guard Travis Farrell (Middletown, N.J./Christian Brothers Academy) had 14 points and freshman forward Brendan Boken (South Pasadena, Calif./Loyola) had 12 points and eight rebounds.
The second half saw neither team lead by more than four until Boken's final free throw with less than three seconds remaining. The teams traded the lead for most of the half and were knotted at 58 with 3:57 to play. But Danzig had a pair of 3-point plays in a span of 62 seconds, the second of which gave Scranton a 66-62 lead with 2:29 to play.
Moravian senior guard D.J. Strayhorn (Swiftwater, Pa./Pocono Mountain East) followed with his own three-point play and Moravian canned a free throw on its next possession to pull back into a tie with 1:43 to play. But Danzig scored inside again on a feed from Boken, and after a Strayhorn miss, Farrell drilled a baseline jumper to make it a two-possession game with 17 seconds to play. After another Moravian miss, Boken made one of two free throws to provide the final margin.
Senior guard Tim Lavelle (Clarks Green, Pa./Scranton Preparatory) added nine points on 3-for-4 shooting from beyond the arc for Scranton. Farrell and Danzig each finished with five rebounds and Danzig had a team-high three assists.
The Royals overcame a shaky start to take a late first-half lead and eventually go into halftime tied at 34 after Strayhorn hit a half-court buzzer-beater to draw the Greyhounds even. Sophomore guard Justin Klingman (Clarks Summit, Pa./Abington Heights) had nine points on a trio of 3-pointers off the bench and junior guard Tommy Morgan (Greenlawn, N.Y./Chaminade) added eight points to lead Scranton in the first half.
Scranton shot 51.1 percent (24-for-47) for the game, including 8-for-18 (44.4 percent) from 3-point range. They made 15 of 19 free throws, including 14 of 16 in the second half.
Moravian received 13 points from senior guard Garrett Johnson (Allentown, Pa./William Allen) and 12 each from Strayhorn and junior center Cameron Cullen (East Islip, N.Y./East Islip). The Greyhounds shot 40.3 percent (25-for-62) for the game, including just 3-for-15 from 3-point range. They made 13 of 16 free throws and won the rebounding battle, 36-29.
Scranton will wrap up the regular season on Saturday, Feb. 16, when the Royals travel to Towson, Md. to take on Goucher College at 7 p.m. The Royals will open the Landmark Conference playoffs on Wednesday, Feb. 20, in a semifinal against an opponent to be determined at a time to be determined in the Long Center.
--ROYALS--