Scranton Rolls Past Goucher in Landmark Conference Opener, 85-66

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The University of Scranton men's basketball team improved to 6-0 for the first time since the 2012-13 season on Saturday, leading wire-to-wire in an 85-66 victory over Goucher in the John Long Center in the Landmark Conference opener for both teams.

The 6-0 start marks just the fourth time in the past 30 seasons that the Royals have opened a campaign with six straight wins.  The 2012-13 and 1994-95 Royals both won their first six games before suffering their first setbacks while the 1991-92 squad won 20 games in a row to open the season.

Sophomore Logan Bailey (Scranton, Pa./Scranton Prep) paced five Royals in double-figures with a season and game-high 19 points, 17 of which came in the first half, while junior Matthew Mancuso (Bridgewater, N.J./Bridgewater-Raritan) added his fourth double-double of the campaign on 14 points and a game-high 11 rebounds.

Freshman Jackson Danzig (Clarks Green, Pa./Abington Heights) netted 12 points and dished out a game-high seven assists while senior Jack Connelly (Ellington, Conn./Ellington) and junior Kyle DeVerna (Rockville Centre, N.Y./Kellenberg Memorial) added 11 points apiece in the win.

Scranton (6-0, 1-0 Landmark) jumped out to a 19-10 lead over the first five and a half minutes of Saturday's contest as DeVerna drained a three-pointer to force Goucher into an early timeout. 

The Gophers (1-6, 0-1 Landmark) trimmed their deficit down to five points, 27-22, with 8:10 remaining in the opening half, but the Royals countered with a 13-6 run to take their largest lead of the half, 40-28, with just over a minute and half left in the frame.  A three-pointer by the visitors followed by a fast-break layup by Danzig put Scranton's lead at 42-31 at the intermission.

DeVerna opened the second half with a three-pointer and Scranton pushed its lead to 60-40 with 13:02 showing on the clock.  The hosts maintained a 20-point or greater advantage and led by as many as 26 points before Goucher made a three-pointer with 17 seconds remaining to make the final margin of victory 19 points in favor of the Royals.

Bailey enjoyed a near-perfect shooting night in putting up his season-best 19 points, going 8-for-9 from the field  including a 2-for-2 effort from three-point range while making one of his two free throw attempts.  The sophomore also blocked two shots and handed out three assists.

Connelly tallied his season-high 11 points on a perfect, 3-for-3 shooting effort from the floor with a pair of treys while sinking all three of his free throw efforts.

Mancuso and Danzig both went 6-for-10 from the field as Scranton shot over 50 percent as a team for the fifth time in six games this season, finishing at a 53.2 percent clip.  The Royals were also strong from beyond the arc, hitting on 9-of-17 three-point attempts and were 76.9 percent from the charity stripe.

Freshman Ben Bosland (Colts Neck, N.J./Colts Neck) blocked three shots on the evening for the Royals, who totaled nine blocks and eight steals while finishing with a plus-one (14-15) edge in turnovers committed while the Gophers held a slim, 36-35 edge on the glass.

Scranton will travel to York (Pa.) on Wednesday for a non-conference matchup starting at 8 p.m.