Ross Danzig	Travis Farrell
Brendan Boken	Michael Barr

Box score

Photo Gallery (courtesy of Dan Ceccacci)

Photo Gallery (courtesy of Emma Black)

The matchup of top 25 teams in the Long Center on Tuesday night lived up to its billing and then some as the 12th-ranked University of Scranton men's basketball team overcame late deficits in regulation and overtime to beat No. 21 Cabrini, 74-73.

The Royals were led by sophomore guard Ross Danzig (Clarks Green, Pa./Abington Heights/Blair Academy, N.J.), who scored a career-high 29 points and pulled down 12 rebounds. Senior guard Travis Farrell (Middletown, N.J./Christian Brothers Academy) added 14 points, including the 1,000th of his career, and freshman forward Brendan Boken (South Pasadena, Calif./Loyola) had 10 points and 10 rebounds.

Scranton, which jumped six spots in the D3hoops.com top 25 earlier in the day, improved to 4-0 with the win. Cabrini, which opened the season ranked 10th, fell to 3-2.

Scranton found itself trailing 64-59 with 2:49 to play in regulation after leading for much of the game. But the Royals responded with a 5-0 run on a 3-pointer by Farrell and two free throws from Danzig that tied the game with 1:36 to play.

Cabrini then took the lead with 20 seconds left on a pair of free throws from freshman forward Arron Goodman (Newtown, Pa./Council Rock North), who finished with a team-high 26 for the Cavaliers. But Scranton answered when Farrell found Boken underneath for a layup with six seconds left. Cabrini's 3-pointer to win it at the buzzer rattled around the rim and popped out.

The teams traded buckets in the first two minutes of overtime before Cabrini took a 73-72 lead with 1:03 to play on a pair of free throws by junior forward Fran Rafferty (King of Prussia, Pa./Upper Merion). The Royals missed on their ensuing possession, but Farrell caused a tie-up, giving the Royals possession on the jump ball with 31 seconds remaining and the shot clock off.

Scranton worked the clock down to 14 seconds before calling a timeout, and they came out of the huddle and put the ball in Danzig's hands. He went straight to the bucket and scored on a layup in traffic to give Scranton a 74-73 lead with 5.3 seconds to play. The Cavaliers called timeout, then got a good look from 15 feet with a couple seconds remaining, but the shot was off line and Danzig corralled the rebound as the horn sounded.

It was a tight game for most of the evening despite the Royals scoring the game's first 12 points. The Cavaliers answered with a 15-2 run to take a brief lead and Scranton eventually settled for a 34-31 halftime lead despite the hot start.

The Royals also received nine points, three assists, three rebounds and two steals from junior guard Michael Barr (North Wales, Pa./Lansdale Catholic). Scranton shot 42.6 percent (26-for-61) for the game while holding Cabrini to just 36.1 percent (26-for-72), including eight of 34 from 3-point range.

Farrell reached the 1,000-point milestone when he made a layup at the 16:19 mark of the second half. He now has 1,005 career points, ranking him 39th on Scranton's all-time scoring list.

Cabrini, which had five players score in double figures, held a 50-41 advantage on the glass and both teams committed 16 turnovers. Despite an overall height disadvantage, Scranton held a 38-28 edge in points in the paint.

The Royals are back in action on Saturday, Dec. 1, when they open Landmark Conference play against Susquehanna University at 4 p.m. in the Long Center. Prior to the game, the University will hold its annual Wall of Fame induction ceremony, which will begin promptly after the women's game, which begins at 2 p.m.

--ROYALS--