Royals Hit Road And Leash Greyhounds

BETHLEHEM, Pa. - The University of Scranton will not get much time to savor an 82-60 victory over Moravian College in the Landmark Conference regular-season finale for both teams Saturday evening at Johnston Hall.

The Royals' win, their third straight and 10th in their last 12 games, make them the number three seed and sets up another rematch with Moravian, now 18-7 overall and 9-5 in the conference, in the semifinals of the Landmark Conference tournament Wednesday evening, again at Johnston Hall. Juniata will travel to Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania, to meet Susquehanna in a rematch of its 60-55 loss today to the Crusaders.

Freshman guard Zach Ashworth (Doylestown, Pa./Central Bucks West) led the Royals, now 17-8 overall and 9-5 in league play, with 20 points, junior guard Ryan FitzPatrick (Berwyn, Pa./Conestoga) added 13 points, and senior guard Randy Arnold (Doylestown, Pa./Central Bucks West) and senior center Tom Bicknell (Melbourne, Australia/St. Bede's College) chipped in 10 apiece. Bicknell also finished with a game-high 10 rebounds to post his 13th ‘double-double' of the season and the 30th of his career.

The game was reminiscent of the first meeting between the two teams at the Long Center, when the Greyhounds shot nearly 60 percent from the field and over 80 percent from the free throw line to cruise to a 96-85 victory. Only it was Scranton this time that shot the lights out. The Royals connected on 11 of 19 3-point field attempts (57.9 percent), including 5 of 10 in the first-half to build up a 38-23 lead by intermission.

Scranton's shooting got even better in the second-half, connecting on 6 of 9 3-point field goal attempts as its lead ballooned to 30 points. The Royals also connected on 14 of 15 free throw attempts in the second-half to finish 21 of 22 (95.5 percent) for the game. Scranton has now shot 50 percent-or-better from the field in six of its seven games.

The winner of the Scranton-Moravian game advances to Saturday's Landmark Conference championship game against the Juniata-Susquehanna winner at the site of the highest seed remaining in the tournament.