Brendan Boken	Ross Danzig	P.J. Kelly	John Vitkus

Box
Photo gallery (courtesy of Emma Black)

Photo gallery (courtesy of Dan Ceccacci)

SCRANTON, Pa.—In a season filled with nail-biting games, University of Scranton men’s basketball coach Carl Danzig finally got a chance to kick back and relax Wednesday evening against Moravian College in Landmark Conference action at the Long Center.

The Royals shot a sizzling 73 percent from the field in the first half to build up a 45-23 halftime lead and cruised to an 84-57 victory, snapping a two-game losing streak and improving to 13-4 overall and 7-1 in the conference.  The loss dropped the Greyhounds to 3-13 overall and 1-6 in the Landmark.

Junior forward Brendan Boken (South Pasadena, Calif./Loyola) and senior guard Ross Danzig (Clarks Green, Pa./Abington Heights/Blair Academy-NJ) led the Royals with 15 points apiece and senior guardJustin Klingman (Clarks Summit, Pa./Abington Heights) finished with 12 on 5 of 6 shooting from the field.

Senior guard Izel Dickerson (Bethlehem, Pa./Liberty) and sophomore forward Brandon McGuire (Philadelphia, Pa./Father Judge) scored 13 points apiece for Moravian, which dug itself a hole by shooting only 33 percent from the field in the first half.

The first half was a thing of beauty for the Royals, whose crisp ball movement resulted in 18 assists on 19 baskets.   Overall, Scranton finished with 23 assists, including six by Danzig and five by junior guard/forward Marcus Thomas (Clarksburg, Md./Clarksburg).  

The big lead also gave Carl Danzig an opportunity to try different combinations and to give his starter some much-needed rest.  All 15 players who dressed for tonight’s game saw action and none of the starters played more than 24 minutes.

Sophomore point-guard P.J. Kelly (Blue Bell, Pa./St. Joseph’s Preparatory), starting in place of freshman Kevin Doolan (Basking Ridge, NJ/Ridge), who missed his second straight game due to an ankle injury, connected on all three of his field goal attempts and finished with a career-high nine points and four rebounds.  Sophomore forwardJohn Vitkus (Mahopac, NY/Mahopac) came off the bench and had eight points and five rebounds in 11 minutes of action for the Royals, who shot nearly 59 percent from the field for the game, including nearly 53 percent from beyond the 3-point arc (10 of 19).

Boken and Ross Danzig continue to move up the Royal all-time scoring list.  Boken’s 15-point effort tonight moves him into 30th place with 1112 points, moving ahead of Rhett Jenkins (1102 points, 1965-1967), while Danzig’s 15 points gives him 1617, moving him past Chuck Nanick (1607 points, 1993-1997) into 12th place.  Boken also pulled down 10 rebounds tonight to record his fourth 'double-double' of the season and the 14th of his career.

The Royals will get a rare weekend off before returning to action next Wednesday, January 28, against the Rangers of Drew University in Madison, New Jersey, beginning at 7:00 p.m.

--ROYALS--