SELINSGROVE, Pa. – A big first-half deficit was just a few points too large to overcome for The University of Scranton men's basketball team in its Landmark Conference semifinal against No. 16 Susquehanna on Wednesday evening. The Royals eventually got within two, but could not make a final push, falling 77-72 in Houts Gymnasium.
The defeat leaves the Royals (19-6) out of the Landmark Conference championship for just the third time in conference's nine-year existence. They will now wait to see if they will receive an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament when the field was announced on Monday. Earlier in the day, the Royals remained ranked fifth in the latest Mid-Atlantic Region rankings by the NCAA.
Senior forward Brendan Boken (South Pasadena, Calif./Loyola) finished with a game-high 24 points for the Royals. He now has 1,898 career points, just five behind the school's all-time career record of 1,903, set by Gene Mumford from 1968-1971. Like the Royals' season, Boken's shot at the career record will remain in limbo until the NCAA Tournament field is announced.
Susquehanna (23-3) raced out of the gates to a 25-4 lead less than nine minutes into the game. The Crusaders led 39-17 with 3:13 left before the Royals finished the half on a 8-2 run to close the gap to 41-25 at the break.
The second half started with another Scranton run, this time a 13-5 spurt that cut the deficit to single digits at 46-38, with 16:40 left. Sophomore guard Chris McCullough (Greenlawn, N.Y./Harborfields) had seven points during the run.
The lead continued to hover around 10 until the eight-minute mark when Scranton used a 7-0 run – the last five from McCullough – to pull within three at 61-58 with 4:36 remaining. After a Susquehanna basket, McCullough made a free throw and Boken scored inside to get the Scranton within 63-61 with 3:10 to play.
But the Crusaders had the final push, responding with a 9-2 run to take a nine-point lead with 1:26 left. The Royals kept battling as Boken drilled a 3-pointer and they later scored four points in four seconds to get to within 75-72 with 10 seconds left. But the Crusaders made a pair of free throws to put the game away and advance to Saturday's championship game against top-seeded Catholic, a 79-66 winner over Juniata in Wednesday's other semifinal.
The Royals shot 31-for-65 (47.7 percent) from the field, including 5-for-21 (23.8 percent) from 3-point range. They were 5-for-9 from the free throw line and committed just 11 turnovers. Junior forward John Vitkus (Mahopac, N.Y./Mahopac) finished with 17 points and nine rebounds, and McCullough added a career-high 13.
Susquehanna went 27-for-61 (44.3 percent) from the field, including 5-for-18 (27.8 percent) from 3-point range. The Crusaders made 18 of 25 free throws (72 percent) and won the rebounding battle, 41-30. They also committed only 10 turnovers.
--ROYALS--