SCRANTON, Pa. – Freshman Jon Spatola (Marlboro, N.J./Marlboro) hit the go-ahead jumper with 0:59 left and The University of Scranton men's basketball team (17-7, 9-4 Landmark) notched a 72-69 victory over the Moravian Greyhounds (8-16, 5-8 Landmark) on Wednesday night at the John Long Center in Scranton.

With the victory, the Royals remain tied for third in the Landmark standings with one regular season game remaining.

After Michael Leonardo hit a three to give Moravian a 69-68 lead with 1:25 left, Spatola responded with a jumper from the elbow to give the Royals a 70-69 edge. The Greyhounds then missed a pair of threes over the final 0:59 and graduate student Jackson Danzig* (Clarks Green, Pa./Abington Heights) sank a pair of free throws with 0:07 remaining to help seal the victory as Alex Dietz was off the mark with a three at the buzzer and the Royals notched a third straight win.

It is also the sixth win in seven games for the Royals.

The two teams traded buckets for a majority of the first half and things were tied at 20 apiece when junior Tahaj Parland (Neptune, N.J./Mater Dei) sank a jumper to ignite an 11-0 run that Danzig capped off with a layup for a 31-20 lead with 5:12 to go. Sophomore Will McLoughlin (Glen Rock, N.J./Glen Rock) later buried a three in the final seconds of the half as the Royals took a 38-29 advantage into the locker room.

Scranton continued to hold a nine point lead in the early stages of the second half, but the Greyhounds would not go away and a three by Leonardo cut the deficit to two at 44-42 with 14:17 to play. Spatola sank a pair of free throws to break a 49-all tie a few minutes later before Moravian took a 56-53 lead with 8:25 remaining. Danzig tied things at 56 with a three and a quick 9-0 run opened up a 62-56 edge for the Royals when senior Stephen Braunstein* (Colts Neck, N.J./Christian Brothers Academy) connected on a jumper. From there, the back and forth affair continued as the Greyhounds sank consecutive threes to even the game at 62 and the Royals later regained the lead at 68-66 prior to the afore-mentioned Leonardo three that made it 69-68 which set the stage for Spatola's clutch jumper.

Danzig led all scorers with 25 points as he notched his third straight 20-point game and McLoughlin added 21 of his own, while Braunstein chipped in 11. Spatola also added six points, five rebounds and five steals in the victory.

Dietz paced the Greyhounds with 18 points in the setback.

Head coach Carl Danzig's squad shot 49.2% (29-of-59) from the floor, 30.4% (7-of-23) from long range and 70.0% (7-of-10) from the free throw line. Moravian was 25-of-55 (45.5%) from the field, 12-of-26 (46.2%) from deep and 77.8% (7-of-9) from the charity stripe.

The Royals forced 17 Moravian turnovers on the night and tallied 13 steals including five from Spatola and four from Parland.

Scranton will host Juniata to close out the regular season on Saturday afternoon with opening tip in the John Long Center set for 4 p.m. The two teams are currently tied in the standings at 9-4 in conference play and will battle for seeding in next week's Landmark Conference tournament.

--ROYALS--