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/gnfeb132011.shtml.

Men’s Basketball (17-5 Overall/10-3 Landmark Conference)
The Royals locked up the number one seed in the upcoming Landmark Conference tournament by splitting a pair of road games this past weekend.

On Friday, Feb. 11, senior guards Zach Ashworth (Doylestown/Central Bucks West) and Luke Hawk (Audubon/Methacton) combined for 47 points and sophomore point-guard Travis Farrell (Middletown, N.J./Christian Brothers Academy) finished with 19 points and nine rebounds as Scranton pulled away midway through the second half to defeat Susquehanna University, 86-77, at the Houts Gymnasium in Selinsgrove. Ashworth scored 17 points and Farrell had 11 points and eight rebounds in the second half as the Royals erased a one-point halftime deficit.

The following day, the Royals came out a bit sluggish and dropped an 86-69 decision to Juniata College at the Kennedy Sports & Recreation Center in Huntingdon. Scranton, however, wrapped up the number one seed when Catholic University defeated the Merchant Marine Academy and Goucher College upset Drew University. Ashworth and Hawk combined for 37 points and freshman guard Michael Barr (North Wales./Lansdale Catholic) came off the bench and had a season-high 10 points in 10 minutes of action. 

Ashworth’s 43 points in his last two games moved him into eighth place on the Royals’ all-time scoring list with 1,691 points.

Women’s Basketball (17-6 Overall/11-2 Landmark Conference)
The Lady Royals extended their season-long winning streak to eight games with a convincing 75-38 victory over Susquehanna University in the first of a two-game Landmark Conference road trip on Friday, Feb. 11, at the Houts Gymnasium in Selinsgrove.

That streak, however, came to a halt on Saturday with a nail-biting 68-67 loss in overtime to Juniata College at the Kennedy Sports and Recreation Center in Huntingdon.

Against Susquehanna, first-year guard Alison Sweeney (Wall, N.J./Saint Rose) came off the bench and connected on 4 of 8 shots from the field to finish with 14 points and senior guard Megan Kopecki (Millington, N.J./Watchung Hills Regional) contributed 13 points, eight rebounds and six assists.  The Lady Royals held the Crusaders to 14.8 percent shooting from the field in the first half to build up a 33-11 halftime lead.

Sweeney made history in a losing effort Saturday, connecting on 13 of 20 shots from the field to finish with a season-high 31 points—the most ever in a game by a Lady Royal first year player—and Kopecki had 16 points, nine rebounds, six assists and five steals.  The loss drops Scranton into a first-place tie with Juniata with one game remaining in the regular season. Should Scranton and Juniata remain tied following this Saturday’s games, the Eagles will be the No. 1 seed in the upcoming Landmark tournament due to their two wins over the Lady Royals this year.

Men’s Swimming (6-5)
The men’s swim team crowned one individual champion and set five school records at the 2011 Landmark Conference championships at the Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point, N.Y., this past weekend.

Overall, Scranton posted a three-day total of 378 points to finish third behind runner-up Susquehanna University and the Merchant Marine Academy, which won its fourth consecutive team championship with 594.5 points.

Sophomore Stephen Nicolosi (Clarks Green/Abington Heights) won the 100 butterfly on Saturday evening in a time of :52.34.  Junior Marc Dezii (Cherry Hill, N.J./Cherry Hill West) broke teammate Paul Vignati’s (West Simsbury, Conn./Northwest Catholic) school record in the 100 free in a third-place time of :48.11, eclipsing Vignati’s previous mark of :48.22 at the 2010 Landmark championships.

The other four school records were set in the relay competitions.

The quartet of Dezii, junior Joseph Clifford (Nesconset, N.Y./Smithtown East), sophomore Andrew Urban (Ambler/Lansdale Catholic) and Vignati opened the championships with a third-place finish in the 200 freestyle relay in 1:27.41 to break their former record of 1:27.82 against Drew University on Jan. 29, 2011.  This group also set a new mark in the 400 free relay, covering the distance in 3:31.95, eclipsing the previous mark of 3:14.32 by Vignati, Hovey, Urban and Dezii at the 2010 Landmark championships.

On Saturday, sophomore Christian Tierney (Sussex, N.J./Pope John Paul XXIII), junior David Hovey (Forty Fort/Wyoming Valley West), Nicolosi and Vignati finished fourth in the 400 medley relay in 3:35.11, squeezing by the former record of 3:35.92 by Jack Cook, Hovey, Joseph Veselovsky and Dezii at the 2009 Landmark championships.

Late Sunday evening, Dezii, Urban, Clifford and Vignati swam a third-place time of 3:13.95 to break the former Scranton record of 3:14.32 by Vignati, Hovey, Urban and Dezii at the 2010 conference meet.

Women’s Swimming (8-4)
Junior Carolyn Gillespie (New Market, Md./Linganore) won three individual events and swam the anchor on two first-place finishing relay teams to lead the women’s swim team to a second-place finish at the 2011 Landmark Conference championships this past weekend at the Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point, N.Y.

On Friday, Feb. 11, Gillespie set a new Landmark and Scranton record in the 50 free in a preliminary heat in :24.60 and came back to win the final in :24.73.  Her previous Royal record was :24.84.  She also won the 100 fly (:59.44) and 100 free (:53.70) on Saturday and Sunday, respectively, with her time in the 100 free breaking her former Royal record of :54.05 at last year’s championships.

Gillespie, first-year swimmer Sara Franciscovich (Frederick, Md./Gov. Thomas Johnson) and seniors Amie Leonard (Sparta, N.J./Pope John Paul XXIII) and Brittany Reyes (Westfield, N.J./Westfield) won the 200 (1:51.57) and 400 (4:03.92) medley relays, breaking the former Scranton mark of 4:05.31 in the 400 medley by teammate Christine Gorge (Harleysville/Lansdale Catholic), Leonard, Reyes and Gillespie at the 2010 Landmark championships.

Leonard broke her school record in the 200 breaststroke in a third-place time of 2:29.57.  Her former mark was 2:29.73 at last year’s championship meet.  She also finished runner-up in the 100 breaststroke in 1:09.16.  Reyes posted a pair of runner-up finishes, too, placing second in the 200 individual medley (2:17.86) and 200 fly (2:17.73).

Wrestling (4-6)
The wrestling team dropped a pair of matches to King’s College, 37-15, and Hunter College, 27-15, on Saturday, Feb. 12, in Wilkes-Barre.

The Royals’ three wins against King’s were recorded by sophomores Michael Murcia (Matawan, N.J./St. John Vianney) and Frank Siclari (Emerson, N.J./St. Joseph’s Regional) and junior Matt Terry (East Northport, N.Y./St. Anthony’s).

Murcia improved to 12-6 on the season with a 2-0 decision over Ricky Dorsey in the 125-pound weight class, while Siclari pinned Don Hollenbach at the 4:01 mark of the second period at 157.   Terry improved to 11-9 on the year with a pin of Matt Steltzer at the 4:39 mark of the second period at 184.

Against Hunter, Siclari picked up his second win and his 11th of the year with a 2-1 decision over Steve Lazaree and sophomore Chris Silakoski (Trenton, N.J./Notre Dame) pinned Ryan Baxter at the 4:20 mark of the second period in a 184-pound weight class bout to earn his tenth win of the season. 

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

This Week in Royal Athletics

Thursday, Feb. 17
Wrestling – at Muhlenberg (7:30 p.m.)

Saturday, Feb. 19
Men’s Basketball - MORAVIAN (4 p.m., LONG CENTER)
Women’s Basketball - MORAVIAN (2 p.m., LONG CENTER)
Wrestling - at New York University with Morrisville (noon)