Men's Basketball Set to Host Juniata in Saturday's Landmark Championship
The University of Scranton men's basketball team (19-7, 11-4 Landmark) took down top-seeded Catholic on Wednesday night to earn a spot in the Landmark Conference championship game where they'll host No. 4 seed Juniata (17-9, 9-5 Landmark) on Saturday afternoon in the John Long Center.
Tipoff between the Royals and the Eagles is slated for 4:30 PM.
Admission to Wednesday's semifinal is $7 for adults and $4 for minors ages 10-17 and seniors 62 and older. Children ages nine and under are admitted free of charge, as are all Landmark Conference students, faculty and staff with their school ID.
Tickets are on sale now via HomeTown Ticketing and can be purchased by clicking here.
Scranton went down to the No. 2 seed Catholic on Wednesday night and upset the Cardinals, 70-63, behind a career night for freshman Jon Spatola (Marlboro, N.J. / Marlboro) who finished with a career-high 18 points and nine boards. Graduate student Jackson Danzig (Clarks Green, Pa. / Abington Heights) dropped a team-high 21 points to go along with four boards in the victory.
The win marked head coach Carl Danzig's 400th of his illustrious career.
Juniata upset No. 1 seed Susquehanna on Wednesday with a 58-56 victory to secure a spot in the Landmark Championship. Sophomore Tyler Lapetina scored a game-high 19 points while junior Chase Husted posted a double-double with 16 points and 18 boards in the win.
Danzig ranks tied for 17th in the nation in three-point percentage at 43.75% on the year. The Clarks Green, PA native also leads the Royals and the Landmark Conference in scoring with 20.1 points per game this season.
Sophomore Will McLoughlin (Glen Rock, N.J. / Glen Rock) ranks second on the team in scoring at 15.3 PPG and first in rebounds with 6.9 per game. Senior Stephen Braunstein (Colts Neck, N.J. / Christian Brothers Academy) ranks second behing Danzig in three-pointers made this season with 55 and third on the team in points at 13.8 PPG.
Spatola leads the conference in assist/turnover ratio at 1.9 and ranks third in assists with 83. Defensively, the Marlboro, NJ native has been a spark all year for Scranton as he ranks third in the Landmark in steals with 52.
For the Eagles, Husted ranks first in scoring (15.8 PGG) and rebounds (9.4 RPG) which ranks second in the conference. Husted leads the Landmark in field goal percentage this season at 59%.
The winner of Saturday's Landmark championship game will earn an automatic bid to the Division III NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament. The men's basketball selection show will take place on Monday afternoon at 1:00 PM.
If you can't make it to Saturday's game, click here for live video and live stats.
--ROYALS--