SCRANTON, Pa. – The University of Scranton men's basketball team (1-2) saw a potential go-ahead three-pointer with one second left in overtime go wide of the mark as the Royals battled until the final buzzer in a heartbreaking 80-76 loss to the No. 5 Mount Union Purple Raiders (3-0) on Wednesday night at the John Long Center in Scranton.

After a pair of free throws from Mount Union's Corey Hudson that gave the visitors a 77-71 edge with 0:30 remaining, the Royals quickly battled back within one as junior Cameron Khoza (State College, Pa./Bishop Guilfoyle) hit a layup, sophomore Jon Spatola (Marlboro, N.J./Marlboro) quickly stole the ball and Khoza then buried a three to cut the lead to 77-76. Hudson was fouled on the inbounds pass and made one-of-two at the line, which gave the Royals the opportunity to take the lead with the afore-mentioned three. The Purple Raiders' Christian Parker sank two free throws in the final second to seal the victory.

This marked the first-ever meeting between the two teams.

Mount Union led 15-10 in the early stages of the first half before a 9-0 Scranton run capped off by a jumper from junior Will McLoughlin (Glen Rock, N.J./Glen Rock) that made it 19-15 at the 9:33 mark. The Purple Raiders battled back to take a 34-30 lead with 3:29 left in the opening stanza, but the Royals once again responded with a 7-2 run over the remainder of the half and Khoza's three in the final minute gave the hosts a 37-36 edge.

Head coach Carl Danzig's team led by as many as eight in the second half courtesy of an 11-4 run over the first three plus minutes and sophomore EJ Matthews-Spratley (Cherry Hill, N.J./Cherry Hill East) sank a jumper that made it 48-40 with 17:08 to play. The back-and-forth theme of the game continued over the next several minutes and Mount Union eventually regained a 59-57 lead with four straight points from Collen Gurley with 6:20 left. From there, Mount Union held a 68-65 advantage with just over a minute to play when Spatola buried a game-tying three. Each team had a chance to regain the lead in the final minute, but the game remained deadlocked at 68 and headed to overtime.

The Purple Raiders held a slight 70-69 edge with 3:34 to go in overtime and then scored seven of the next nine points for the 77-71 lead before Scranton's valiant comeback effort in the final minute.

Spatola led the Royals with 17 points (7-of-12 FG) and also added five rebounds and four steals, while the trio of Khoza, Matthews-Spratley and McLoughlin all tallied 15 points apiece. Khoza was 6-of-9 from the floor and Matthews-Spratley also contributed four assists.

Parker led all scorers with 33 points and corralled 13 rebounds to lead Mount Union and was joined in double figures by Gurley (14 points) and Hudson (11 points).

The Royals shot 48.5% (32-of-66) from the field and 44.4% (8-of-18) from beyond the arc on the night. Mount Union was 29-of-61 (47.5%) from the floor and 7-of-23 (30.4%) from deep.

Scranton will host Stevens in a non-conference matchup on Saturday afternoon at the John Long Center with opening tip set for 3 p.m.

--ROYALS--