SCRANTON, Pa. – In what was a back and forth affair during which neither team led by more than nine points, The University of Scranton men's basketball team (12-8, 6-4 Landmark) dropped a 57-54 heartbreaker to the Juniata Eagles (12-9, 5-5 Landmark) on Monday night at the John Long Center in Scranton.

With four regular season games remaining, there is just two games separating second place Drew (7-3) and the fifth place Eagles (5-5) in the Landmark standings. Both Scranton and Catholic currently sit at 6-4 in conference play and the top four teams will qualify for the Landmark Conference Tournament that begins on Feb. 23.

Susquehanna currently leads the conference with a 9-1 mark.

Scranton led 54-51 with 4:37 to play following a layup from senior Jackson Danzig (Clarks Green, Pa./Abington Heights), but the Eagles scored the final six points of the game and held the Royals scoreless during that stretch. A pair of Mason Hardy free throws at the 2:58 mark gave Juniata the lead for good at 55-54.

The Royals were hot out of the gate on Monday and sophomore Tahaj Parland (Neptune, N.J./Mater Dei) buried a three to open up a 10-3 lead just under four minutes into the game. Juniata responded with a 20-5 stretch and Chase Husted sank a pair of free throws for a 23-15 lead at the 7:15 mark, but the Royals whittled away at the deficit and freshman Colin Merriman (Mount Laurel, N.J./Camden Catholic) hit a jumper to give the hosts a 31-30 edge with under two minutes left in the opening stanza. The Eagles then scored the final five points of the half and Evan Eisenhard banked in a three at the buzzer to give Juniata a 35-31 edge.

The two teams battled defensively for a majority of the second half and Juniata led 47-41 with 8:32 to play when junior Stephen Braunstein (Colts Neck, N.J./Christian Brothers Academy) scored five of the next seven points to cut the lead to one at 47-46. From there, freshman Mason Thompson (Prairie Village, Kan./Rockhurst) connected from long range to tie things at 49 apiece and Braunstein followed with an old-fashioned three point play on the next possession to give Scranton a slight 52-49 edge with 5:15 remaining before the Eagles' afore-mentioned rally down the stretch.

Braunstein paced the Royals with 15 points, Danzig added 11 and freshman Will McLoughlin (Glen Rock, N.J./Glen Rock) chipped in with seven points and seven rebounds.

Eisenhart led all scorers with 22 points and Husted added 11 for Juniata.

Scranton was 23-of-50 (46.0%) from the floor and 5-of-20 (25.0%) from beyond the arc, while Juniata shot 47.5% (19-of-40) from the field and 46.2% (6-of-13) from deep. Both teams struggled from the charity stripe as the Royals were 3-of-9 (33.3%) and the Eagles were 13-of-21 (61.9%).

The University of Scranton men's basketball team is right back in action on Wednesday night when they host Drew in a crucial Landmark Conference showdown. Opening tip in the John Long Center is slated for 7 p.m.

--ROYALS--