SCRANTON, Pa. – A second half run by Farmingdale State College proved to be too much to overcome as The University of Scranton men's basketball team (1-1) dropped a 77-65 decision to the Rams (3-0) in the championship game of the Hilton Scranton Invitational on Saturday afternoon at the John Long Center in Scranton.
Even though the Royals trailed for much of the afternoon, they continued to put together several valiant comeback efforts and a layup by sophomore Matthew Hanley (Staten Island, N.Y./Monsignor Farrell) cut the deficit to one at 53-52 with 13:00 to play. Farmingdale State quickly answered with a jumper on the other end to ignite a 19-7 run over the next eight plus minutes that resulted in a 72-59 lead with 4:28 remaining.
This marked the second-ever meeting between the two programs and the first since Jan. 29, 2001.
Both teams struggled offensively in the early stages of the contest and the Rams led 17-8 at the 10:13 mark of the first half. A few minutes later, the Rams held a 23-14 advantage when Hanley hit a layup which ignited a 14-5 run that was capped off by sophomore EJ Matthews-Spratley's (Cherry Hill, N.J./Cherry Hill East) trifecta that tied the game at 28 apiece. In the final seconds of the half, junior Cameron Khoza (State College, Pa./Bishop Guilfoyle) buried a three that cut the Royals' deficit to 37-34 at the break.
The two teams traded baskets for much of the first five minutes of the second half and after Farmingdale State opened a 49-43 lead, Scranton responded with a quick 9-4 spurt that was capped off by Hanley's afore-mentioned layup that made it a 53-52 game. Following the 19-7 run by the Rams, the Royals battled back within nine at 74-65 but were unable to get any closer.
Matthews-Spratley led Scranton with a career-high 26 points on 8-of-15 shooting and junior Will McLoughlin (Glen Rock, N.J./Glen Rock) added 11 points and six rebounds. Sophomore Jon Spatola (Marlboro, N.J./Marlboro) added nine points of his own on 4-of-6 shooting and matched his career-high with nine boards.
For Matthews-Spratley, the 26 points surpassed his previous career-high of 16 that had been set in a victory at King's on Dec. 31, 2022.
The Royals shot 44.2% (23-of-52) from the field, 33.3% (8-of-24) from long range and 61.1% (11-of-18) from the free throw line, while Farmingdale State was 28-of-58 (48.3%) from the floor and 8-of-21 (38.1%) from deep.
Nick Hurowitz had 30 points on 10-of-15 shooting to lead the Rams and Corey Powell tallied 12 points.
Scranton continues its season-opening four game homestand on Wednesday night as No. 5 Mount Union comes to the John Long Center for a 7 p.m. tip.
--ROYALS--
