Here is a weekly wrap-up of University of Scranton athletic events. To see the full link to the Royal Review, visit http://matrix.scranton.edu/athletics/gnjan312011.shtml.

Men’s Basketball (14-4 Overall/7-2 Landmark Conference)
The Royals ran into two hot-shooting teams on the road this past week and dropped a pair of games in Landmark Conference action.

On Friday, Jan. 28, the Merchant Marine Academy shot nearly 62 percent from the field in the second half to extend a four-point halftime lead into an 86-66 victory at Liebertz Gymnasium in Kings Point, New York.  The loss snapped Scranton’s season-long winning streak at 12 games.  Senior guards Zach Ashworth (Doylestown/Central Bucks West) and Luke Hawk (Audubon/Methacton) scored 16 points apiece and sophomore guards Tim Lavelle (Clarks Green/Scranton Preparatory) and Pat Mineo (Scranton/Scranton Preparatory) came off the bench to contribute 10 and nine points, respectively.

The following day, Drew University buried nearly 52 percent of its shots from the floor in the second half to erase a six-point halftime deficit on its way to a 90-82 victory at Baldwin Gymnasium in Madison, New Jersey. The Rangers scored the final eight points of the game to break an 82-82 tie with 38 seconds remaining.  Ashworth led the Royals with 20 points and eight rebounds, Hawk and sophomore guard Travis Farrell (Middletown, N.J./Christian Brothers Academy) finished with 19 points apiece and junior forward Matt Swaback (Kingston/Wyoming Seminary) chipped in 11 points. Ashworth’s 36 points this weekend moved him over the 1,600-mark for his career (1603).

Women’s Basketball (14-5 Overall/8-1 Landmark Conference)
The Lady Royals kept pace with Moravian College in the battle for the top seed in the upcoming Landmark Conference tournament by sweeping a road trip this past week.

Without starting senior guard Megan Kopecki (Millington, N.J./Watchung Hills Regional) and junior forward Sarah Gage (Ledgewood, N.J./Roxbury) in the lineup, the Lady Royals held off a late rally to defeat the Merchant Marine Academy, 66-58, on Friday, Jan. 28, in Kings Point, N.Y.

Senior guard Jennifer King (Taylor/Riverside) led four players in double figures with 14 points, sophomore forward Tayler Pallotta (Dunmore/Dunmore) finished with 12 and first-year guard Katie Cunningham (Garden City, N.Y./Kellenberg Memorial) and senior guard Colleen McLane (Scranton/Scranton Preparatory) chipped in 11 and 10, respectively. 

Kopecki and Gage returned to the lineup on Saturday, Jan. 29, after missing two games with minor injuries and scored 11 points apiece as the Lady Royals built up a 21-point lead midway through the second half and settled for a 66-55 victory over Drew University in Madison, New Jersey.    King scored 13 points—all in the first half as Scranton rolled out to a 33-17 lead at intermission—and Cunningham came off the bench and contributed 10 points, two rebounds and a steal in 18 minutes of action.

Men’s Swimming (6-5)
The Royal 200 freestyle relay team broke a pool record that stood for 22 years in Scranton’s 154-57 victory over Drew University on Saturday, Jan. 29, at the Byron Center.

The quartet of juniors Marc Dezii (Cherry Hill, N.J./Cherry Hill West) and Joe Clifford (Nesconset, N.Y./Smithtown East), sophomore Andrew Urban (Ambler/Lansdale Catholic) and junior Paul Vignati (West Simsbury, Conn./Northwest Catholic) clocked a time of 1:27.82 to break the former Byron Center pool record of 1:28.14 set by Franklin & Marshall’s Meiler, Collins, Susanin and Walter at the 1989 Middle Atlantic Conference championships.  

Scranton opened the meet with a first-place finish in the 200 medley relay, as sophomore Christian Tierney (Sussex, N.J./Pope John Paul XXIII), freshman John Hughes (Lancaster/Lancaster Catholic), junior Andrew Kelly (Maple Glen/St. Joseph Preparatory) and Vignati covered the distance in 1:41.97.

Tierney, Vignati and junior David Hovey (Forty Fort/Wyoming Valley West) won two events apiece.  Tierney swept the 100 (:57.54) and 200 (2:07.48) back, Hovey captured the 100 (1:03.69) and 200 (2:19.74) breaststroke, and Vignati won the 50 free (:22.87) and 100 fly (:55.63).  Also recording first-place finishes for Scranton today were senior Joseph Costello (Edison, N.J./St. Joseph’s) in the 1000 free (11:03.88), Urban in the 200 free (1:55.12), Clifford in the 200 fly (2:04.83) and Dezii in the 100 free (:49.55).

The win guaranteed Scranton a winning record in dual-meet competition for the 11th straight year and for the 15th time in the program’s 25-year history.

Women’s Swimming (8-4)
Behind two wins apiece from seniors Amie Leonard (Sparta, N.J./Pope John Paul XXIII) and Brittany Reyes (Westfield, N.J./Westfield), junior Carolyn Gillespie (New Market, Md./Linganore) and first-year swimmer Sara Franciscovich (Frederick, Md./Gov. Thomas Johnson), the Royals defeated Drew University, 163-85, on Saturday, Jan. 29, at the Byron Center.

Leonard won the 100 (1:10.65) and 200 (2:35.42) breaststroke, Reyes captured the 200 butterfly (2:22.48) and the 200 individual medley (2:21.92), Gillespie finished first in the 50 free (:25.05) and the 100 fly (:59.74), and Franciscovich swept the 100 (1:05.07) and the 200 (2:21.18) backstroke. 

Leonard and Reyes joined junior Christine Gorge (Harleysville/Lansdale Catholic) and first-year swimmer Jessica Merino (N. Hyde Park, N.Y./Holy Trinity Diocesan) in winning the first even, the 200 medley relay in 1:57.13, while Franciscovich, Merino, Gillespie and first-year swimmer Kelsy McAnelly (West Chester/Villa Maria Academy) won the final event, the 200 freestyle relay in 1:43.18. The Royals also received a first-place finish in the 500 free (5:37.15) by junior Jillian McGowan (Port Chester, N.Y./School of the Holy Child).

With the win, the Royals posted their 25th consecutive winning season since the program was founded in 1986.

Here is the upcoming schedule for The University of Scranton's athletic teams: 

This Week in Royal Athletics

Thursday, Feb. 3
Wrestling- at Wilkes (7 p.m.)

Friday, Feb. 4
Men’s Basketball - GOUCHER (7:30 p.m., LONG CENTER)
Women’s Basketball - GOUCHER (5:30 p.m., LONG CENTER)

Saturday, Feb. 5
Men’s Basketball - CATHOLIC (4 p.m., LONG CENTER)
Women’s Basketball - CATHOLIC (2 p.m., LONG CENTER)
Wrestling - at Centenary (6 p.m.)