Brendan Boken	Justin Klingman	Tommy Morgan
Michael Barr		Ross  Danzig

Box Score

Photo Gallery, courtesy of Dan Ceccacci

SCRANTON, Pa.—When the Landmark Conference men’s basketball coaches begin voting for all-conference honors this weekend, don’t be surprised if University of Scranton junior guard Justin Klingman (Clarks Summit, Pa./Abington Heights) snags a few votes.

Klingman continued his late-game heroics again this evening, scoring 13 of his game-high 18 points in the second half as the Royals held off Moravian College, 67-61, to win their 11th straight game to improve to 21-3 overall and 11-2 in the conference.  He has now scored 58 points in his last three games

Sophomore forward Brendan Boken (South Pasadena, Calif./Loyola) shook off early foul trouble to finish with 17 points and five rebounds and junior guard Ross Danzig (Clarks Green, Pa./Abington Heights/Blair Academy-NJ) and senior guard Michael Barr (North Wales, Pa./Lansdale Catholic) finished with 14 apiece for Scranton, which earlier in the day moved up into the top spot in the Mid-Atlantic regional rankings.

Senior center Blake English (Sussex, NJ/Vernon Township) led Moravian, now 11-13 overall and 5-8 in the Landmark, with 14 points, senior center Cameron Cullen (East Islip, NY/East Islip) contributed 11 points, and senior guard Kenny Gula (Quakertown, Pa./Quakertown) came off the bench and chipped in 10 points.

It was Boken and Klingman who turned the game permanently in Scranton’s favor after Gula tied it up with a pair of free throws to tie it at 61 with 3:03 remaining

Boken made four free throws in the final 1:22 and came up with a big offensive rebound after Klingman missed a 3-pointer with 28 seconds remaining with the Royals leading by two.  Klingman then hit both ends of a one-on-one free throw situation to make it a two-possession game seven seconds later.  

On its final five possessions, Moravian turned it over once and missed four field goal attempts, including three from beyond the 3-point arc.

Danzig and Barr scored 11 points apiece as the Royals ended the first half with a 15-6 run to turn a 2-point deficit into a 38-31 halftime lead.  Scranton shot nearly 46 percent from the field and turned it over only twice in the opening 20 minutes of play.

Scranton quickly built up a 10-point lead early in the second half before English and junior guard Izel Dickerson (Bethlehem, Pa./Liberty) each buried a 3-pointer and Gula added a pair of lay-ups during an 13-0 run that gave Moravian a 46-43 lead with 13:51 left.  Klingman then sandwiched a pair of 3-pointers around a free throw by Danzig to regain the lead for Scranton, 50-46.  Moments later, Klingman knocked down another 3-pointer to give the Royals a 5-point lead with 9:50 left, 53-48.

In his last three games, Klingman is shooting from the 63.3 percent from the field, including 60.8 percent from beyond the 3-point arc.

Prior to tip-off, senior guard Tommy Morgan (Greenlawn, NY/Chaminade) and Danzig received the 61st annual John ‘Les’ Dickman Award as the Royals’ most valuable player (MVP).  Danzig also won the award last season.

Scranton will close out its regular season this Saturday, February 22, against Goucher College at 2 p.m. in the Long Center.  Morgan, Barr, Mike Marchman (Blauvelt, NY/St. Joseph Regional), Jason Pierce (Scranton, Pa./Lackawanna College/Conestoga), and Kyle Ranck (Lewisburg, Pa./Lewisburg Area) will be honored as part of Senior Day festivities on campus.

--ROYALS--