Michael Barr	Tommy Morgan	Ross Danzig
Brendan Boken		Jason Pierce

Box Score

SELINSGROVE, Pa.—Junior guard Ross Danzig (Clarks Green, Pa./Abington Heights/Blair Academy-NJ) and senior guards Tommy Morgan (Greenlawn, NY/Chaminade) and Michael Barr (North Wales, Pa./Lansdale Catholic) erased a lot of bad memories for The University of Scranton men’s basketball team Saturday afternoon at Houts Gymnasium.

After losing there in each of the past two seasons, Danzig poured in 22 points and Morgan and Barr finished with 16 and 13 points, respectively, as the Royals cruised past Susquehanna University, 82-68, in the Landmark Conference opener for both teams.  The win was the second straight for Scranton, now 5-1 overall and 1-0 in the conference, while the Crusaders dropped to 3-3 overall and 0-1 in league play.

The Royals never looked back after an 18-7 run turned a slim 27-25 lead with 4:25 remaining in the first half into a 45-32 advantage by intermission.  Scranton shot over 53 percent from the field, including nearly 63 percent from the 3-point arc, in the first half while Susquehanna had trouble finding the mark, making just 12 of 36 first-half field goal attempts (33.3 percent).

The Royals continued to control the action throughout the second half and their lead eventually grew to 25 with 7:10 left before the Crusaders staged a late rally to cut into the margin.

Danzig finished with nine rebounds and seven assists, and the front line of senior Jason Pierce (Scranton, Pa./Conestoga/Lackawanna College) and sophomore Brendan Boken (South Pasadena, Calif./Loyola) combined for 16 points and 15 rebounds for the Royals, who held a 47-37 advantage in rebounding and whose ball movement resulted in 22 assists on 29 made field goal attempts.

Freshman guard Steven Weidlich (Watchung, NJ/Watchung Hills) led Susquehanna with 20 points and sophomore guard Brandon Hedley (Silver Spring, Md./Salisbury Preparatory) finished with 11 points and five assists.

The Royals will break for final exams before returning to action next Saturday, December 14, against the Merchant Marine Academy in Landmark action beginning at 2:00 p.m. in the Long Center.

--ROYALS--