Faced with a tough challenge in the championship game of the PNC Bank Royal Rumble on Tuesday afternoon, The University of Scranton men's basketball team turned to its experienced leaders to bring home the title.
Junior guard Ross Danzig (Clarks Green, Pa./Abington Heights/Blair Academy, N.J.) scored a game-high 34 points en route to MVP honors and Morgan added 23 points to earn all-tournament honors as the Royals held of Muhlenberg, 79-73, to capture the championship for the second time in the tournament's five seasons.
Scranton (7-2) also received 10 points off the bench from junior guard Justin Klingman (Clarks Summit, Pa./Abington Heights) and eight points from sophomore forward Brendan Boken (South Pasadena, Calif./Loyola).
The Royals led by two at halftime, 40-38, after a back-and-forth opening 20 minutes in which Danzig had 17 points and Morgan scored 12. But the Mules (8-2) received 28 total points from the trio of senior center Kevin Hargrove (Queens, N.Y./Chaminade), senior forward Brandon Bovino (Upper Saddle River, N.J./Northern Highlands Regional) and junior guard Malique Killing (Philadelphia, Pa./Friends' Central).
In the second half, Scranton never led by more than four up until the 5:49 mark. That's when Danzig drilled a 3-pointer from the top of the arc to put Scranton ahead, 61-54. He made another triple three minutes later to keep the lead at seven, 69-62, his third 3-pointer in that three-minute span.
After Killing made a pair of layups sandwiched around two free throws by Danzig, it was Morgan who provided the dagger for the Royals. He buried a 3-pointer of his own from the right wing with 1:37 left to give Scranton a 74-66 lead with just 1:37 to play. From there, Scranton made five of six free throw attempts to secure the victory despite seven points from Killing in the final 44 seconds.
The Royals shot 24-for-51 (47.1 percent) from the field, including 11-for-22 in the second half. They made nine of 19 (47.4 percent) from beyond the arc. Danzig was 4-for-6 from 3-point range, while Klingman was 2-for-3 and Morgan was 2-for-4.
Danzig also had 10 rebounds for his first double-double of the season and eighth of his career. Boken also had six rebounds and Morgan added five as the rebounding battle was nearly even, with Muhlenberg holding a slight 34-33 edge.
Morgan added four assists, two blocks and a steal while finishing 8-for-11 from the field and 5-for-8 from the free throw line. Boken had a team-high three blocks, and Klingman and senior guard Michael Barr (North Wales, Pa./Lansdale Catholic) had two steals each.
Killing, who earned all-tournament honors, finished with a team-high 23 points on 9-for-20 from the field for Muhlenberg. Hargrove added 19 points and 11 rebounds, and Bovino finished with 12 points and nine boards. The Mules shot 26-for-59 (44.1 percent) from the field, but made just two of 12 (16.7 percent) from beyond the arc.
Scranton will now break for the Christmas holiday. They will return to action on Tuesday, Dec. 31, when they face Keystone College at 6 p.m. in the Coaches vs. Cancer event at the Lackawanna College Student Union.
In the third-place game earlier in the day, Washington & Lee defeated Rosemont, 82-58. All-tournament selection Andrew Franz (Charlotte, N.C./Ravenscroft) led the Generals with 21 points. Junior forward Dom Scafidi (Clementon, N.J./Triton Regional/Rowan) led Rosemont with 11 points en route to earning all-tournament honors.
--ROYALS--