SCRANTON, Pa. – The University of Scranton men's basketball team (14-6, 6-3 Landmark) used hot shooting from the field to outlast the Susquehanna River Hawks (11-9, 6-3 Landmark) in an 83-78 victory on Wednesday night at the John Long Center in Scranton.

The Royals shot a season-high 61.5% (32-of-52) from the floor and scored six of the final nine points over the final 2:06 to preserve the win. It also marks the highest shooting percentage for the Royals since posting a 66.7% clip in a victory over Goucher on Feb. 5, 2022.

With the victory, Scranton is now tied for second in the Landmark Conference along with the River Hawks and Juniata with five regular season games remaining.

Susquehanna scored the first nine points of the game on Wednesday and led 11-3 when graduate student Jackson Danzig* (Clarks Green, Pa./Abington Heights) hit a three to ignite a 12-4 run that was capped off by a three from sophomore Will McLoughlin (Glen Rock, N.J./Glen Rock) to tie things at 15 apiece with 12:49 to go in the first half. The River Hawks then took a 27-20 lead, but the Royals once again battled back and freshman EJ Matthews-Spratley (Cherry Hill, N.J./Cherry Hill East) hit a layup to make it at 34 all at the 5:11 mark. Scranton later scored the final six points of the half and a jumper by junior Tahaj Parland (Neptune, N.J./Mater Dei) opened up a 45-43 edge headed into the locker room.

The back-and-forth affair continued for much of the second half and things were tied at 61 apiece with 11:07 to play before a Matthews-Spratley layup regained the lead for Scranton for the time being. Susquehanna's Audric Washington converted a three-point play with 5:38 remaining to give the visitors a 71-69 advantage, but Danzig slammed one home to tie the game and followed with a jumper at the 4:11 mark that gave Scranton the lead for good. The River Hawks drew within a basket on a couple of occasions down the stretch, but could not manage to tie the game and Matthews-Spratley sealed the deal with a pair of free throws with five seconds to play.

Danzig led all scorers with a season-high 32 points on 13-of-17 shooting and four other players scored in double figures for Scranton. McLoughlin added 14 points, while Matthews-Spratley and Parland chipped in 11 apiece and senior Stephen Braunstein* (Colts Neck, N.J./Christian Brothers Academy) had 10.

For Matthews-Spratley, his 11 points on 4-of-6 shooting mark his second highest total of the season.

All five starters scored in double figures for the River Hawks led by 21 from Howie Rankine Jr. and 17 from Quincy Haughton.

Along with the 61.5% clip from the field, the Royals were 10-of-21 (47.6%) from long range and 9-of-15 (60.0%) from the free throw line. Susquehanna shot 30-of-68 (44.1%) from the floor, 7-of-22 (31.8%) from beyond the arc and 11-of-15 (73.3%) from the charity stripe.

McLoughlin had six boards to lead Scranton and three others added five apiece.

The Royals will host first place Catholic on Saturday afternoon with opening tip in the John Long Center set for 4 p.m.

--ROYALS--