Royals Top Eastern in Electric Win
By Bryson Eldridge – Co-Managing Editor
Scranton men’s basketball beat the Eastern Eagles with an 88-82 victory in electrifying fashion in the John Long Center Wednesday night. This win improves the Royals record to 5-0 on the season.
After a sloppy first two minutes where both teams committed multiple turnovers, the Royals launched out to a 18-7 lead halfway through the first half following a 18-6 run. The Royals were able to continue their momentum throughout the half and take a 38-31 lead into the break.
The Royals came out of halftime hot going on a 30-11 run to open the lead to 26 points with 11:29 remaining in the game.
After a timeout and a defensive adjustment, the Eagles began to make a comeback going on their own 14-0 run which featured multiple threes to cut the lead to 11 with 6 minutes remaining in the game.
In the final minutes of the game, the Royals lead shrunk all the way down to 3 points, but the Royals were able to make enough defensive stops which led to an emphatic dunk by McLoughlin to close out the game.
The Royals shot the ball from the field and from behind the three-point line at season high percentages at 61% and 64% respectively.
The scoring attacking was balanced in the victory with four of five starters scoring double digits. Graduate student Jackson Danzig who tallied 23 points, senior Stephen Braunstein added 22, sophomore center Will McLoughlin recorded a double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds and Tahaj Parland scored 13.
The Royals shot a season high 12/19 from behind the arc with Braunstein going a perfect 5 for 5 from deep and Danzig going 5 for 7.
Assistant Head Coach Jeff Frank was ecstatic with the way the team was getting open looks from three.
“We got great looks all night. Guys played unselfish and shot the ball with confidence. We executed the game plan we had in place, and we were fortunate it helped us put another tally in the win column,” Frank said.
Parland played a big part of finishing out the game along with McLoughlin. Parland made multiple assists and ran the offense to perfection to close out the game. McLoughlin scored most of his points late in the second half while knocking down some key free throws to keep the lead.
“Tahaj and Will were incredible. They had great poise all game. When the game got close those two guys lead us. Can’t say enough how proud I am of those two. What people forget is they are still young players. COVID junior and sophomore respectively so for them to stay confident and poised when it got tough down the stretch speaks volumes to who both Tahaj and Will are as people. They are both tough as nails,” Frank said.
The Royals will look to continue their early season success against Penn State Harrisburg Saturday 3 PM.