Ross Danzig	Justin Klingman	Tommy Morgan

Box Score

BROCKPORT, NY—The University of Scranton men’s basketball team took a look in the mirror Friday night when it met Hobart College in the opening round of the NCAA Division III championships at Vlogianitis Gymnasium on the campus of SUNY-Brockport.

Facing an opponent much like itself with a dominating post player and a backcourt that knows how to distribute the basketball, the Royals fell to the Statesmen, 94-81, on a night when they shot nearly 65 percent from the field and got 31 points and eight rebounds from junior guard Ross Danzig (Clarks Green, Pa./Abington Heights/Blair Academy-NJ).

Scranton never had an answer for Hobart senior forward Richie Bonney (Norwich, NY/Norwich), a finalist for the prestigious Josten Trophy who may very well pick up more votes tonight after torching the Royals for 30 points on 12 of 14 shooting from the field and finishing with 10 rebounds, four assists, four steals and a block.

Bonney, however, was far from Hobart’s only weapon.  

Four other players reached double-figures, as senior guard Joe Gibbons (Lindenhurst, NY/St. John the Baptist) and junior guard Trey Blanding (Cleona, Pa./Annville-Cleona) finished with 18 apiece and junior guards Connor Rehbaum (Cheektowaga, NY/St. Joseph’s Collegiate) and Andrew Hoy (Batavia, NY/Batavia) combined for 23 points.

Scranton, which had a season-long 14-game winning streak snapped and ends its season with a 24-4 record, received 14 points from senior guard Tommy Morgan (Greenlawn, NY/Chaminade) and 13 from junior guard Justin Klingman (Clarks Summit, Pa./Abington Heights).

Despite shooting 73 percent from the field in the first half, the Royals led by only three at intermission, 45-42.

The Statesmen then built up two 5-point leads early in the second half before Bonney keyed a 21-5 run with eight points during a six-minute span that turned a 4-point Hobart lead into a 16-point cushion with 7:47 left.   The Royals did manage to slice the lead to 10 on a 3-pointer by Danzig with 2:55 left and on a dunk by sophomore forward Brendan Boken (South Pasadena, Calif./Loyola) with 41 seconds remaining.  

Hobart, however, made 11 free throws down the stretch to seal the win.  For the game, the Statesmen were 26 of 34 from the line (76.5 percent).

Danzig’s 31-point effort was his fourth 30-or-more point performance of the season and his 576 points this year were the most by a Royal since Jason Hoppy scored 653 in 1998.

Morgan finishes his career with 1038 points, which is 37th on the Royals’ all-time list, and his 329 assists and 120 steals are the 12th and 14th most in Scranton history, respectively.

Scranton’s 24 wins this year is tied for the most ever under 13th-year head coach Carl Danzig and tied for the sixth most in Royals’ history

--ROYALS--