Ethan Danzig	Ross Danzig	Marcus Thomas

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HUNTINGDON, Pa.—FreshmanEthan Danzig (Clarks Green, Pa./Abington Heights) isn’t quite ready to concede family bragging rights to his older brother.

He came off the bench today and connected on 6 of 7 shots from the field—all from the 3-point arc—to finish with a season-high 18 points to lead The University of Scranton men’s basketball team to a 69-52 victory over Juniata College in Landmark Conference action at Memorial Gymnasium.

His older brother, senior guard Ross Danzig (Clarks Green, Pa./Abington Heights/Blair Academy-NJ), finished with 15 points, six assists and six rebounds and junior guard forward Marcus Thomas (Clarksburg, Md./Clarksburg) added 14 points as the Royals won their fifth straight game to improve to 17-4 overall and 11-1 in the conference.

Juniata College, which shot only 37 percent on its home floor to fall to 11-11 overall and 5-8 in the Landmark, was led by junior guard Justin Fleming (Richmond, Va./Benedictine College Preparatory) and freshman center/forward Marcus Lee (Carrolltown, Pa./Bishop Carroll) with 10 points apiece.

The Royals’ ability to get out of the gates quickly once again set the pace for today’s game.  With the Danzigs shooting 7-for-7 from the field to combine for 21 points, Scranton built up a 36-26 halftime lead by connecting on 65 percent of their field goal attempts.  

The Eagles managed to cut the lead to five early in the second half before Ethan Danzig buried back-to-back 3-pointers to ignite a 17-5 run that turned a 40-35 lead with 16:12 remaining into a 57-40 cushion with 6:12 left.  For the game, Scranton shot 59.5 percent from the field, including 12 of 19 (63.2 percent) from the 3-point arc.

And even though the Royals are shooting nearly 57 percent from the field in their last five games, they are quietly getting it done on the defensive end of the court, holding four of their last five opponents to 64-or-fewer points and limiting them to just 39 percent shooting from the field, including 29.7 percent from the 3-point arc.

Scranton still remains, however, a game and a half behind Catholic University for the top seed in the upcoming Landmark Conference tournament, which begins with semifinal games at the number one and two seeds on Wednesday, February 25.  The two teams will meet in the regular-season finale on Saturday, February 21, at 4:00 p.m. in the Long Center, a game that could decide the top seed.

The Royals will return to action this Wednesday, February 11, against the Crusaders of Susquehanna University at 7 p.m. in the Long Center.  Prior to tip-off, the 62nd annual John ‘Les’ Dickman award will be presented to the Royals’ most valuable player (MVP).

--ROYALS--