WILKES BARRE, PA -- The sixth-seeded University of Scranton Royals fell to third-seeded Wilkes University in the opening round of the Landmark Conference playoffs Tuesday night at Henry Gymnasium.
The Basics
- Final Score: Wilkes - 59, Scranton - 43
- Records: Wilkes (20-6), Scranton (12-14)
How it Happened
- Junior Jon Spatola scored the opening bucket of the game off an assist from senior Mason Thompson.
- Wilkes responded with a 7-0 run to take a five point lead at the 16:07 mark.
- Scranton regained the lead three minutes later as Spatola hit back-to-back jumpers followed by a lay up from freshman Max Lebisky off a feed from classmate Will Marion.
- Marion connected from deep at 9:05 to put the Royals up 13-10.Â
- Scranton took its biggest lead of the at 7:08 as senior Colin Merriman stole the Colonels' inbound pass and scored a lay up to put his squad up 18-12
- Spatola increased the Royals' lead to eight points as he drilled a three with 3:23 remaining in the first half.Â
- Wilkes hit a late three to cut Scranton's lead to 28-25 headed into halftime.
- The Colonels opened the second half with an 11-0 run in the first four minutes to take a 36-28 lead.
- Spatola made a three at 12:45 in the second half to end the scoring drought for the Royals and bring them within five points of Wilkes.
- Wilkes converted an and-one to extend its lead to nine with 10:26 left to play.
- The Royals answered with a 4-0 run with lay ups from freshman Sammy Tornabene and graduate student Tahaj Parland and cut the lead to five. The Colonels followed with a 7-0 run to take a 49-37 lead with 7:50 remaining.Â
- Scranton struggled to get within ten points of Wilkes in the final minutes of action as the Colonels went on to win, 59-43.Â
Top Performers
- Spatola scored 20 on 8-14 from the field to lead the way for Scranton.
- Thompson added four points to go along with a team-high nine boards and six steals.
Inside the Box Score
- Wilkes out rebounded Scranton 42-25.
- The Colonels held Scranton to 18.8% from three-point range.
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