DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.—For the second straight night, The University of Scranton men's basketball team overcame a late deficit to pull out a victory at the Daytona Beach Shootout.

This time, the Royals erased a five-point deficit with three minutes remaining to defeat Westfield State (Mass.), 61-56, behind a 16-point effort from junior guard Travis Farrell (Middletown, NJ/Christian Brothers Academy) and 12 points from senior forward and all-tournament selection Matt Swaback (Kingston, Pa./Wyoming Seminary).

Scranton, which overcame an 8-point deficit to defeat North Central College (Ill.) Monday evening, 64-62, enters the holiday break with a 6-4 record.  The loss drops the Owls to 7-4.

And similar to last night's win, the Royals clamped down defensively when they needed it most, holding Westfield State to one point over the final 4:54.  After Owl freshman forward Grant Cooper (Northampton, Mass./Northampton) hit one of two free throws with 2:30 left to make it 56-52, Scranton took control the rest of the way, starting with two big plays by Swaback.

He tied the game with 2:11 remaining by knocking down a 3-pointer, drawing a foul on the play, and converting the free throw for a four-point play.  On Scranton's next possession after an turnover, Swaback then gave the Royals their first lead by tipping in a missed shot by senior guard Dan Hilferty (Ardmore, Pa./Episcopal Academy) with 1:14 left.   

The Owls then came unglued, turning the ball over again and missing three 3-pointers in the final 30 seconds  as Scranton countered with a free throw by Farrell and two more by freshman guard Ross Danzig (Clarks Green, Pa./Abington Heights/Blair Academy-NJ) to seal the victory.  Danzig finished with nine points, seven steals, four rebounds, and four assists.

Junior guard Lee Vazquez (Attleboro, Mass./Woonsocket-RI) led Westfield State with 15 points and Cooper finished with 10 points and 11 rebounds.

The Royals will return to action on Monday, January 2, against former Freedom Conference rival Wilkes University in the first Cross-County Challenge to be held at the Insalaco Arena on the campus of Marywood University in Scranton beginning at 6:00 p.m.

News & Notes:  Scranton is 2-2 in its last four games, and all four have been decided by a total of 11 points…junior guard Tim Lavelle (Clarks Green, Pa./Scranton Preparatory) came off the bench and had nine points and two steals in 22 minutes of action…Royals pressured the Owls into 20 turnovers and held them to 41.3 percent shooting from the field…Scranton shot only 38.5 percent from the field but did connect on 15 of 22 free throw attempts (68.2 percent).

Newspaper Box Score
SCRANTON 61, WESTFIELD STATE 56

WESTFIELD STATE (7-4)
Lee Vazquez 6-15 0-0 15; Grant Cooper 2-4 6-8 10; Matt Devine 3-8 3-6 9; Carl Stewart 2-3 0-2 5; Ryan DeLosa 2-3 0-0 4; Carlo Buono 1-1 0-0 3; Travis Nally 1-6 1-1 3; Josh Levitan 0-3 2-2 2; Steinnhard Renaud 1-1 0-2 2; Marcellus Lee 1-2 0-0 2; Ryan White 0-0 1-2 1. Totals 19-46 13-23 56.

SCRANTON (6-4)
Travis Farrell 5-10 5-7 16; Matt Swaback 4-7 1-1 12; Ross Danzig 2-6 5-5 9; Tim Lavelle 3-12 1-2 9; Mark Bevacqua 3-6 0-0 6; Tommy Morgan 2-5 1-2 5; Nick Jaskula 1-1 0-0 2; Dan Hilferty 0-1 2-4 2; Edmond O'Connell 0-2 0-0 0; Michael Barr 0-2 0-1 0. Totals 20-52 15-22 61.

Westfield State...............   32   24  -   56
Scranton......................   28   33  -   61

3-point goals--Westfield State 5-14 (Lee Vazquez 3-8; Carl Stewart 1-1; Carlo Buono 1-1; Travis Nally 0-2; Josh Levitan 0-1; Grant Cooper 0-1), Scranton 6-22 (Matt Swaback 3-6; Tim Lavelle 2-5; Travis Farrell 1-5; Tommy Morgan 0-1; Edmond O'Connell 0-1; Michael Barr 0-2; Ross Danzig 0-2). Fouled out--Westfield State-None, Scranton-None. Rebounds--Westfield State 34 (Grant Cooper 11), Scranton 31 (Matt Swaback 6; Travis Farrell 6). Assists--Westfield State 12 (Lee Vazquez 4), Scranton 12 (Ross Danzig 4; Tommy Morgan 4). Total fouls--Westfield State 20, Scranton 18. Technical fouls--Westfield State-None, Scranton-None. A-105