PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – A big second half by Moravian proved to be the difference in the game as The University of Scranton men's basketball team (3-12, 1-7 Landmark) dropped a 76-56 decision to the Greyhounds (7-8, 3-5 Landmark) on Sunday night at the historic Palestra in Philadelphia.
The game came as part of a full day of Landmark Conference action at the Palestra with two men's and two women's games scheduled throughout the day.
Moravian led 33-29 at halftime before breaking the game open in the second half.
A three-pointer by sophomore Luca Baratta (Richboro, Pa./Perkiomen School) opened up an early 9-4 lead for the Royals at the 16:10 mark of the first half before the Greyhounds embarked on a 13-0 run over the next four plus minutes to take a 17-9 lead for the time being. Trailing 21-11 with 9:54 left in the opening stanza, junior Cameron Khoza (State College, Pa./Bishop Guilfoyle) buried a three and later capped off a 14-4 run for the Royals with another trifecta that sliced the deficit to one at 25-24. From there, sophomore Jon Spatola (Marlboro, N.J./Marlboro) buried a three of his own in the final minute which brought the Royals within four at 33-29 at the half.
Baratta opened the scoring in the second half with a three and a quick 5-0 run gave Scranton a 34-33 edge as Spatola sank a pair of free throws with 17:52 to play. The Greyhounds quickly answered with a layup on the other end and then led 38-36 when Marquis Ratcliff hit a layup that began a 16-0 run that made it a 54-36 game. The Royals continued to battle over the final 12 minutes, but were unable to get any closer than 15 the rest of the way.
The Royals were led by Baratta with 11 points, while freshman Nick Ruisi (Greenlawn, N.Y./Harborfields/Cheshire Academy) added eight points and six rebounds. Spatola and freshman Brendan Carr (Northport, N.Y./Northport) each chipped in with seven points.
Ratcliff led all scorers with 31 points and also added 14 boards for Moravian and Michael Leonardo posted 11 points and 10 rebounds of his own.
Scranton shot 31.7% (19-of-60) from the floor and 29.2% (7-of-24) from long range on the night and Moravian was 27-of-56 (48.2%) from the field and 8-of-21 (38.2%) from deep.
Spatola collected eight rebounds to lead the way for the Royals and Ruisi and sophomore Teddy Spratt (Doylestown, Pa./Central Bucks West) came through with six apiece.
Head coach Carl Danzig's team is back in action on Wednesday night at Lycoming with action slated to get underway at 7 p.m.
--ROYALS--
