SELINSGROVE, Pa. – Host Susquehanna outscored The University of Scranton 10-2 over the first four and half minutes of overtime on Wednesday to defeat the Royals 89-81 in tightly contested Landmark Conference men's basketball game.
The River Hawks lifted their record to 13-7 overall and 6-3 in conference play while completing a regular season series sweep of Scranton, which slipped to 16-4 (5-4 Landmark) on the year.
Sophomore Logan Bailey (Scranton, Pa./Scranton Prep) scored a game-high 27 points, going 11-for-16 from the field and 4-for-4 from the free throw line to lead four Royals in double-figures.
Freshman Jack Brockett (Shamong, N.J./Seneca) matched a season-high with 15 points to go along with a team-leading seven rebounds for Scranton while juniors Kyle DeVerna (Rockville Centre, N.Y./Kellenberg Memorial) and Matthew Mancuso (Bridgewater, N.J./Bridgewater-Raritan) netted 14 point apiece in the loss.
Scranton got off to a hot start on Wednesday, making seven of their first eight shots from the floor to claim an 18-7 advantage six minutes into the contest. Susquehanna countered by scoring 13 straight points to take a 20-18 lead midway through the period.
The lead would change hands five times over the final 10 minutes of the stanza with the Royals holding a 37-35 edge at halftime.
Scranton pushed its lead to seven points coming out of the locker room as Bailey hit a three-pointer before DeVerna converted a pair of shots from the free throw line.
Susquehanna came back with an 11-3 push to take a 51-50 lead at the 13:22 mark which marked the first of 11 lead change over the remainder of regulation.
The River Hawks held a five-point lead, 76-71, with 2:39 left on the clock before Mancuso made two from the line to make it a three-point game. The hosts got a point back from the free throw line before Bailey made two of his own from the stripe, cutting Scranton's deficit to 77-75 with 1:05 remaining.
The Royals forced Susquehanna into a turnover on its next possession and tied the score up at 77-apiece on a layup by Bailey with 27 seconds left and Scranton headed to overtime for the first time this season after a shot by the River Hawks at the buzzer would not go.
The two teams combined for just four points in the first 3:10 of overtime, all of which belonged to Susquehanna. DeVerna scored on a layup with 1:50 left in the frame, pulling the Royals to within two points at 81-79, but the River Hawks took control by netting six points to claim an 87-81 lead with 24 seconds left.
Following another field goal from Bailey, the hosts iced the win by making a pair of free throws with 20 ticks left on the clock.
DeVerna matched a career-high with a game-high seven assists on the night while freshman Jackson Danzig (Clarks Green, Pa./Abington Heights) led all players with three blocked shots.
Susquehanna, which held a 38-29 advantage in rebounding for the game and was plus-seven (12 to 19) in turnovers, shot 43.5 percent from the field for the game, 37.9 percent from three-point range, and 75 percent from the free throw line.
The Royals made 52.1 percent of their attempts from the floor on the evening while shooting 43.8 percent from beyond the arc. The visitors had a strong night at the free throw line, making 24-of-27 attempts for an 88.9 percent showing.
Scranton heads to the nation's capital on Saturday to take on Catholic in a Landmark Conference contest starting at 4 p.m.
--ROYALS--