Box Score

The 18th-ranked Royals from the University of Scranton shot 57 percent in the second half to defeat the Bearcats, 81-69, in the championship game of the Scranton Radisson Invitational played on Saturday afternoon in Scranton, Pa.

The Bearcats, who shot a spectacular 60 percent in last night’s win over York College (Pa.), struggled from the field today shooting only 35 percent (23-65).

The Royals led from start to finish, but despite several double-digits leads during the second half they could not put the Bearcats away.

Jason Berliner scored a layup to get as close as 56-50 with 10 minutes left, but the Royals immediately responded on their next possession with a 3-pointer by Ross Danzig to go back up by nine (59-50).  They carried that momentum the rest of the game never allowing their lead to get less than seven points to capture the championship of their own tournament for the third straight year.

Overall, Scranton finished shooting 46 percent and outscored the Bearcats 36-32 in the paint.

The Bearcats shot 9-of-24 from 3-point range to stay close and received another reliable performance from the bench with 28 points compared to 19 by the Royals.

Franklin Garcia, who was named to the All-Tournament Team, led the visiting Bearcats with 20 points (7-8 ft). Joshua Vital was the other double-figure scorer by narrowly missing a double-double with 11 points and nine rebounds.Granville Gittens finished with nine points and seven rebounds.

Tournament MVP Ross Danzig led the Royals from the Landmark Conference with a double-double of 22 points (11-12 ft) and 13 rebounds.

The Bearcats return to play their home opener on Tuesday, November 20, with a 7:30 pm non-conference contest against the State University of New York at Brockport.