Landmark Standings Reflect Costly 90-76 Home Loss

TOWSON, Md. — Goucher suffered only its second loss at home this season, but the 90-76 setback to Scranton in the Decker Sports & Recreation Center this evening proved costly to the Gophers as it kept them from owning sole possession of second place in the Landmark Conference.

Julian Livingston (Bowie, Md./Fairmont Heights) provided the Gophers with their only lead when he nailed a shot from behind the 3-point stripe 2:28 into the contest, putting his team up 3-2. The Royals (12-3, 2-2 Landmark) went ahead to stay on the subsequent possession when Justin Klingman answered Livingston's 3-pointer with one of his own.

Scranton, in fact, was deadly from 3-point range in the opening 20 minutes. While the Royals were 16-for-32 from the field (.500), they made eight of their 11 3-point attempts (.727). All nine of the points Michael Barr scored in the first half came from long-range shots; Ross Danzig also made three 3-pointers in the period to account for nine of his 11 points.

The leading scorer for the Royals in the first half, however, didn't even attempt a 3-pointer. Instead, the five two-point baskets and four free throws Brendan Boken made added up to 14 points for the sophomore forward, which helped Scranton to a 48-29 advantage midway through the contest.

Just five points separated the two teams after Kevin Miles (District Heights, Md./Gwynn Park) drained a 3-pointer with his team trailing 11-3, but the Royals went on a 12-0 run, widening their cushion to 23-6 with 12:18 remaining in the first half.

Goucher climbed back to get within 11 points on three occasions, but the Royals outscored the Gophers, 12-4, over the final 3:35 of the opening period. Scranton's lead would have been 22 at the break had Norman Allen II (Bowie, Md./Riverdale Baptist) not heaved up a shot three paces behind the midcourt line that incredibly touched nothing but net as players from both teams were already walking off the court, heading to their locker rooms (view shot in video below).

The Gophers (7-8, 2-2 Landmark) managed to outscore the Royals by five points in the second half, but they never got their deficit below 13 points.

Miles furnished the Gophers with 15 points in the second half and finished with a team-high total of 20 points. Allen was the second-leading scorer for Goucher with 14 points, while Livingston chipped in with 13.

Boken captured scoring honors for Scranton as he contributed 29 points to the victory. Ross Danzig, who came in leading the Landmark in scoring at 21.9 points per game, ended up with 20.

By winning, Scranton maintained its perfect all-time record against Goucher. The Royals have prevailed in all 13 games the two teams have played against each other.

The loss dropped the head coach Leonard Trevino's squad into a five-way tie for second in the Landmark Conference. Goucher's next game will be at home against Juniata, one of the teams with the same 2-2 record in conference play as the Gophers, on Wednesday, Jan. 22, at 7:30 p.m.