SCRANTON, Pa. – The University of Scranton men's basketball team (13-11, 7-7 Landmark) fought hard until the bitter end, but fell just short in a 70-66 overtime loss to the Catholic University Cardinals (17-6, 10-4 Landmark) in the regular season finale on Saturday afternoon at the John Long Center in Scranton.

With the loss, the Royals were eliminated from Landmark Conference playoff contention and see their season come to a close.

Catholic's Tommy Kelly hit a pair of free throws with 0:29 to go in the extra session to give the visitors the lead for good. Following a turnover on the other end, Kelly hit two more free throws in the final seconds to preserve the victory for the Cardinals.

The first half was a back and forth affair as neither team led by more than five points for the first 19 plus minutes of the half until Catholic took a 28-21 lead in the final minute, but senior Jackson Danzig (Clarks Green, Pa./Abington Heights) hit a layup with just three ticks left on the clock to cut the deficit to five at 28-23 at the half.

Scranton came storming out of the gates to start the second half and sophomore Tahaj Parland (Neptune, N.J./Mater Dei) hit a layup of his own to cap a 9-2 run and tie things at 30 apiece with 17:35 to play. Things remained tied at 40 with 10 minutes remaining, but consecutive buckets from the Cardinals gave them a four point lead at 44-40. From there, the teams continued to battle evenly and senior Peter Hartrick (Binghamton, N.Y./Seton Catholic Central) sank a free throw for a 52-50 Royals edge with 3:52 left. Clinging to the late lead, Parland connected on a jumper for a 56-52 advantage at the 2:31 mark before Catholic's Jesse Hafemeister scored the last four points of regulation and tied the game at 56 with a jumper with 0:56 remaining. Both teams had a chance for the win in the final minute, but each missed a three-pointer to force overtime.

The overtime period proved to be more of the same as both teams traded baskets and the Royals once again opened a four point lead at 65-61 following a Parland jumper with 2:43 to play. This was where the Cardinals fought back and made all six attempts from the charity stripe in the final minute to overtake Scranton.

Danzig led all scorers with 24 points and was joined in double figures by Parland who had 12 points on a perfect 6-of-6 shooting day.

Catholic was Kelly with 20 points and Hafemeister with 16.

The Royals shot 38.6% (22-of-57) from the floor and 25.0% (6-of-24) from beyond the arc, while the Cardinals were 27-of-60 (45.0%) from the field and 2-of-11 (18.2%) from three-point range. Ultimately, the free throw line proved to be one of the key differences in the game as Scranton was 16-of-28 (57.1%) and Catholic sank 14-of-19 (73.7%).

Prior to the game, The University of Scranton men's basketball team honored the 2021-22 senior class of Danzig, Hartrick, Ben Bosland (Colts Neck, N.J./Colts Neck) and Jack Brockett (Shamong, N.J./Seneca).

--ROYALS--