Scranton, King's Win PNC Cross County Challenge Openers
Marywood's Brent Keyes had a game-high 18 points but Marywood fell to King's, 81-53

Scranton, King's Win PNC Cross County Challenge Openers

Men's Basketball - 1/2/2012 8:43:00 PM

Box Scores
Scranton 71, Wilkes 53
King's 81, Marywood 53

Scranton, PA - The University of Scranton beat Wilkes University 71-53 in the opening game of the inaugural PNC Cross County Challenge and King's College closed the evening by defeating host Marywood University 81-53.  Scranton will face King's tomorrow night at 8:00 pm to decide the champion while Wilkes and Marywood will square off at 6:00 pm.  All games are at Marywood's Insalaco Arena.

In the opener, Scranton broke open a tight game early in the second half and hit nearly 54% of their shots from the floor in the second frame to improve to 7-4 on the year.  Holding a 31-27 haltime lead, a quick 10-2 run in the opening four minutes of the second half helped the Royals grab a double-digit lead for the first time in the game.  Scranton would eventually go up by as many as 20 on five occasions througout the second half. 

Travis Farrell led three Royals in double figures with 15 points.  Ross Danzig completed a double-double with 11 points and a game-high 12 boards.  Matt Swaback added 10 for Scranton.  Wilkes, who fell to 6-3 with the loss, got a game-high 17 points from Paul Huch.

In the nightcap, King's never trailed as they improved to 6-5 on the year with a 81-53 win over Marywood, who fell to 4-7.  A tight affair throughout the first ten minutes of the game, King's would break open a double-digit lead (25-13) on a Mike Foster three with 7:15 left in the opening half.  From there, the Monarchs kept the Pacers at bay until a pair of free throws from Pierre Bakinde got Marywood back into just a single digit deficit with two minutes left.  King's would close the half with a quick 4-0 run to hold a 13-point lead at the break (37-24).

Marywood would slowly climb back into the game in the second half, finding themselves down just eight with 12:39 to play after a layup by Matt Tintle.  A Shane Kellaher layup would get Marywood to within 6 (52-46) but from there King's used a 11-0 run to pull away. 

Both of tomorrow's games will be available live on local television thanks to WQMY MyNetwork TV.  The games will be televised on Comcast channel 11 (Scranton area), Service Electric channel 4 (Wilkes-Barre area), Direct TV HD or DishNetwork channel 53 or over the air on channel 53.1.  The broadcast will also be simulcast live on MyFoxNEPA.com.

Tickets can be purchased at the door the day of the game.  Ticket prices are $5 for adults and $2 for senior citizens, children under the age of 10 and students from King's, Scranton and Wilkes with a valid college ID.  Marywood students, faculty and staff may attend the games free of charge by presenting a valid Marywood University ID.

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