Box Score

SCRANTON - Junior guard Stephen Braunstein (Colts Neck, N.J./Christian Brothers Academy) led five double-digit scorers with 19 points, as The University of Scranton men's basketball team opened a big lead in the first half and never looked back in an eventual 91-58 victory over SUNY Cortland on Thursday evening in the John Long Center.

With the win, Scranton moved to 6-5 overall, while SUNY Cortland dropped to 5-6 with the defeat.

From the opening tip, the Royals pounced on the visiting Red Dragons, looking like a team that was ready to roll after a long holiday layoff of 17 days.

The first run of the contest began with the game tied at 11-11 with 14:42 to go in the opening half. Here, a 9-2 rally gave Scranton a 20-13 lead with 12 minutes to go in the first half. After a made three by Cortland, the Royals punched back with another big run, this time a 9-0 spurt that gave Scranton their first lead by double-digits on the night at 29-16.

The run was punctuated by three straight dunks by the Royals - the first by freshman Will McLoughlin (Glen Rock, N.J./Glen Rock) and the last two in a row by senior Jackson Danzig (Clarks Green, Pa./Abington Heights).

Once Scranton grabbed a double-digit lead in the first half, Cortland did not have many answers, as the Royals eventually extended their lead out to 19 points (46-27) with 2:48 left in the period after a made three-pointer by sophomore Tahaj Parland (Neptune, N.J./Mater Dei).

Grabbing a 48-34 at intermission, Scranton essentially put the game away right out of the halftime break early in the second half.

In the first two and a half minutes of the final frame, the Royals exploded on a 10-0 run to go up for good at 58-34, a lead that was far too much from Cortland to come back from the rest of the contest. Scranton kept the hits coming throughout the second half after shooting 55.6 (35-of-63) from the floor on the evening, while committing just one turnover all night.

Overall for the Royals, Braunstein led a balanced scoring attack with 19 points on 7-of-9 shooting from the floor (4-of-6 from three-point range). Danzig ended with 16 points, while fellow senior Jack Brockett (Shamong, N.J./Seneca) finished with 14 points and six rebounds.

Rounding out the double-digit scorers for the Royals was McLoughlin, who had 12 points (on 4 dunks) and six rebounds off the bench, while junior Ryan Ems (Voorhees, N.J./Eastern Regional) finished with 10 points and five rebounds.

Cortland was led in a losing effort by Austin Grunder, who finished with a game-high 28 points.

The University of Scranton men's basketball team returns to action on Wednesday when they host Susquehanna at home in a Landmark Conference showdown. Tip-off in the Long Center is set for 7 p.m.

--ROYALS--