WASHINGTON, D.C. – The University of Scranton men's basketball team entered Saturday's final regular season game looking for a little revenge for an earlier home loss to Catholic University. The Royals put up a fight, but could not get the big basket they needed down the stretch, falling 79-74 to the Cardinals in the DuFour Center.
The loss snaps Scranton's eight game losing streak and drops the Royals to 19-6 overall and 11-5 in the Landmark Conference. The Royals will enter next week's Landmark Conference playoffs as the third seed and will visit the no. 2 seed, either Catholic (19-5, 12-3) or Susquehanna (22-3, 13-3). The Cardinals have one game remaining on Sunday against Merchant Marine and can earn the top seed with a win. A loss would make Catholic the no. 2 seed.
Senior forward Brendan Boken (South Pasadena, Calif./Loyola) scored 35 points in the defeat, the second time he scored 35 against Catholic this season. More importantly, he now has 1,874 career points, which moves him into second place on Scranton's all-time scoring list. He is just 29 points behind Gene Mumford, who set the school record with 1,903 points from 1968 to 1971.
Scranton held a 42-37 halftime lead on Saturday, but Catholic scored the first five points of the second half to pull even. From there, it was a nip-and-tuck game with Catholic eventually pulling out to a 59-54 lead midway through the half. But the Royals responded with a 13-5 run to take a 67-64 lead on a layup by Boken with 4:22 to play.
The lead was still three moments later when junior forward John Vitkus (Mahopac, N.Y./Mahopac) scored on a dunk, but he was called for a technical foul for hanging on the rim, which was his fifth personal foul. The Cardinals made both free throws and followed with a basket to take a 72-71 lead with 2:52 left.
The Royals never led again despite having chances to tie or pull ahead, including a free throw to tie with 20 seconds left. But the shots wouldn't fall and the Cardinals made four free throws in the final 11 seconds to secure the victory.
Boken finished the afternoon going 15-for-24 from the field and 5-for-8 from the free throw line. He also had three rebounds and three assists.
Scranton also got 13 points and eight rebounds from sophomore guard Ethan Danzig (Clarks Green, Pa./Abington Heights) and a career-high 13 points and three rebounds from sophomore guard Mitch Cross (Marriottsville, Md./Loyola-Blakefield).
The Royals shot 49.2 percent (29-for-59) from the field, including 7-for-19 (36.8 percent) from 3-point range. They made nine of 12 free throws and committed just nine turnovers. Sophomore guard Kevin Doolan (Basking Ridge, N.J./Ridge) was a big reason for that, handing out a career-high nine assists with just two turnovers.
Catholic shot 49.1 percent (27-for-55) from the field, including 8-for-20 (40 percent) from 3-point range. The Cardinals made 17 of 19 free throws (89.5 percent) and won the rebounding battle, 33-27.
The Royals will find out their semifinal opponent, location and time on Sunday following Catholic's game against Merchant Marine Academy.
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