BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Graduate student Jackson Danzig* (Clarks Green, Pa./Abington Heights) scored 13 points in the final 2:43 of regulation plus overtime and The University of Scranton men's basketball team (12-6, 4-3 Landmark) outscored Moravian by a 17-9 margin in the extra session in an 88-80 victory over the Greyhounds (6-12, 3-4 Landmark) on Thursday night at Johnston Hall in Bethlehem.

Danzig hit a layup to tie the game with 0:32 left in regulation that forced overtime and then scored eight points over 1:17 in overtime which turned a 76-75 lead into an 84-78 advantage with just over a minute left in the extra session. Sophomore Cameron Khoza (State College, Pa./Bishop Guilfoyle) hit a layup and senior Stephen Braunstein* (Colts Neck, N.J./Christian Brothers Academy) slammed one home in the final minute to put an exclamation point on the victory for the Royals.

With the win, Scranton now holds sole possession of fourth place in the Landmark standings.

The two teams traded baskets for much of the first 10 plus minutes of the game and a Braunstein layup made it 12-11 with 9:53 to play in the first half. Junior Tahaj Parland (Neptune, N.J./Mater Dei) then followed with a three to ignite a 16-9 run that was capped off by a three from Khoza for a 28-20 advantage at the 5:52 mark. The Royals would stretch the lead to 10 at one point at 35-25 and later took a 42-35 lead into the locker room after Danzig scored the final four points of the half.

Braunstein sank a jumper to open the scoring in the second half and freshmanJon Spatola (Marlboro, N.J./Marlboro) capped off a 10-5 spurt with a jumper of his own to open up a 52-40 edge with 16:01 to play. However, Moravian began to battle back and used a 15-3 run that evened things at 55 apiece with 11:56 remaining in regulation. FreshmanEJ Matthews-Spratley (Cherry Hill, N.J./Cherry Hill East) buried a three out of the timeout to halt the run and the Royals held the lead for the next seven plus minutes before the Greyhounds briefly held a 66-65 edge at the 4:38 mark. Braunstein immediately helped Scranton regain the lead with a layup and neither side led by more than two over the final 4:18 as things were tied at 71 apiece after 40 minutes.

The Royals scored the first five points of overtime with a Parland three and a layup by sophomore Will McLoughlin (Glen Rock, N.J./Glen Rock) made it 76-71 before the Greyhounds scored four straight to cut the lead to 76-75, which set the stage for Danzig's late heroics that sealed the victory for Scranton.

McLoughlin led the Royals with 23 points on 10-of-13 shooting, Danzig had 22 points on 7-of-14 shooting and Braunstein added 14. Spatola also recorded four points, a season-high seven assists and six rebounds.

Moravian was led by Marquis Ratcliff who tallied 27 points in the setback.

Scranton shot over 50% from the floor for the ninth time this season with a 54.7% clip (35-of-64) from the field and 42.1% (8-of-19) from beyond the arc, while also converting a perfect 10-of-10 from the charity stripe. The Greyhounds were 27-of-58 (46.6%) from the field and 10-of-27 (37.0%) from long range on the night.

Head coach Carl Danzig's team hits the road to battle Goucher on Saturday afternoon with opening tip set for 4 p.m.

--ROYALS--