SCRANTON, PA (February 4, 2023) -- The University of Scranton men's basketball team dropped a Landmark Conference matchup against a highly competitive Catholic University squad on Saturday afternoon in the John Long Center. 

With the loss, the Royals move to 14-7 overall and 6-4 in conference play. 

The Cardinals started off the game hot, outscoring Scranton 9-1 in the opening three minutes of action. The Royals were able to cut Catholic's lead to three after a graduate student Jackson Danzig (Clarks Green, Pa. / Abington Heights) connected on a mid-range jumper at the 13:52 mark. 

Catholic entered a strong period of play late in the opening half and converted a layup at the buzzer to take a 43-29 lead into halftime. 

The Cardinals came out firing again in the second half as Sean Neylon hit a three in the opening minute to extend Catholic's lead to 17. Scranton was able to cut the lead to single digits after a steal at the 16:17 mark led to a layup for junior Tahaj Parland (Neptune, N.J. / Mater Dei).  

The Royals continued to apply pressure on the offensive end but were unable to prevent the Cardinals from connecting from three-point range. Catholic shot an impressive 48.6% from deep and made 17 threes on the day including a game-high four from Neylon who finished with 16 points. Jesse Hafemeister led all scorers for the Cardinals with 20 points.

Danzig paced the Royals with 18 points to go along with five boards while senior Stephen Braunstein (Colts Neck, N.J. / Christian Brothers Academy) and Parland joined Danzig in double figures with 12 and 11 points respectively. 

Catholic won the battle on the boards with 37 to Scrantons' 32.

The men's basketball team will return to action on Wednesday when they head to Drew for another Landmark Conference matchup. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:00 PM in Madison, NJ.

--ROYALS--