SCRANTON, Pa.—In an eagerly-anticipated showdown between University of Scranton senior guard Ross Danzig (Clarks Green, Pa./Abington Heights/Blair Academy-NJ) and Cabrini College's Aaron Walton-Moss (Camden, NJ/Camden), it was Royal sophomore guardSean Cummings (Millstone Township, NJ/St. Peter's Preparatory) who stole the thunder Tuesday evening at the Long Center.
Cummings connected on 8 of 9 shots and finished with a career-high 17 points in 16 minutes off the bench as 24th-ranked Scranton cruised past the 18th-ranked Cavaliers, 85-65. Junior forwardBrendan Boken (South Pasadena, Calif./Loyola) led the Royals, now 4-1, with 19 points and Danzig finished with 14 points and five assists.
Scranton, which shot over 65 percent from the field in the first half and nearly 59 percent for the game, also received nine points apiece from senior guard Justin Klingman (Clarks Summit, Pa./Abington Heights) and junior guard/forward Marcus Thomas (Clarksburg, Md./Clarksburg).
Walton-Moss, the 2014 National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Player of the Year, led all scorers with 27 points for Cabrini, which fell to 3-2 on the year, and freshman forward Jair Green (Williamstown, NJ/Paul VI) added 12.
The Royals ability to hit a number of perimeter jump shots early forced the Cavaliers to extend their zone defense, which Scranton took advantage by going down low to Boken, who made 4 of 5 shots from the field to score 11 points in the opening 20 minutes of play.
Cummings then took over in the second half, scoring 13 points on 6 of 7 shooting from the field as the Royals extended a 17-point halftime lead to as many as 23 with 11 minutes remaining. Cummings' previous career-high was a 9-point effort against Immaculata University on November 15, 2013.
Freshman guard Ethan Danzig (Clarks Summit, Pa./Abington Heights) also played a key role off the bench for Scranton tonight, finishing with 7 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists and a steal in 16 minutes of action.
For the game, Scranton held a 46-24 advantage in points in the paint and its bench out-scored the Cavalier reserves 30-10.
The Royals will break for Thanksgiving and return to Landmark Conference action on Saturday, December 6, against Juniata College at 4:00 p.m. in the Long Center.