Men’s Basketball Tallies Season-High Point Total in Loss at Scranton in Landmark Play

Box Score

SCRANTON, Pa. - Four Goucher College men's basketball players scored in double-figures on the day, as the Gophers had their highest output on the offensive end for the 2017-18 season at Scranton on Saturday afternoon in a Landmark Conference showdown.

But, despite that, the Gophers dropped a 96-72 decision to the host Royals in the John Long Center. With the defeat, Goucher dropped to 0-14 overall (0-4 Landmark), while Scranton improved to 7-8 overall (3-1 Landmark).

To start the game, Scranton came out strong, opening a 9-0 lead on the Gophers in the first two and a half minutes of play. The Royals eventually extended out their lead to 15-2 with 13:40 left in the first period, as the Goucher offense continued to struggle in the opening facets of the game.

But, the Gophers arose on offense over the next few minutes, as a 12-2 run over the next three minutes sliced the Royals lead down to 17-14 with 10 minutes left to go in the first half.

Despite cutting the Scranton lead down to three points again (19-16 with eight minutes left), this would be the closest Goucher came to the Royals' lead the entire period, as the Gophers remained within striking distance of Scranton entering intermission only trailing, 38-30, at the break.

To start the second period, Scranton once again began a half strong, as they extended their lead out to 13 points (48-35) with 16 minutes left. The Royals then went on a back-breaking 15-0 run to open an insurmountable 63-35 lead with 12 minutes to go, a deficit that was too much for the Gophers to come back from.

Individually in the defeat for Goucher, senior Elliott Wiley (Baltimore, Md.) scored a career-high 21 points, leading four double-digit scorers for the Gophers. Wiley, who nailed four three-pointers, also pulled down six rebounds on the day.

Elsewhere, sophomore Dwayne Morton (Waynesville, Mo.) had 14 points, five rebounds, and five assists, while junior Gabe Ceribelli (Monkton, Md.), came off the bench and finished with 13 points and two steals. Rounding out the double-digit scorers on the day for Goucher was first-year Jacob Smith (Callaway, Va.) had 12 points while pulling down six rebounds. 

Scranton was led in the win by forward Matthew Mancuso, who finished with 24 points.

The Goucher College men's basketball team returns to action on Wednesday, as they travel to Catholic for another Landmark Conference match-up. Tip-off is set for 4 p.m.

—GOPHERS—