University of Scranton’s Jon Spatola looks to pass during the basketball game against Lycoming at the University of Scranton on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
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University of Scranton’s Jon Spatola looks to pass during the basketball game against Lycoming at the University of Scranton on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
SCRANTON — Jon Spatola has seen the ups and downs during his basketball career at the University of Scranton.
As a freshman, the point guard from Marlboro, New Jersey, was part of a Landmark Conference championship team that advanced to the second round of NCAA Division III tournament. But Scranton won only four games his sophomore season and 12 games his junior year.
This season, however, the Royals are contending again. Their revival continued Wednesday night with a 77-72 victory over a scrappy Lycoming College squad at the John Long Center. It is their 10th straight win, improving them to 13-1 overall and 6-1 in Landmark play.
“We’re just focused and working hard every day, putting in the practice and preparing for every game,” Spatola said. “We’ve got a good group of guys here and play as a team.
“It’s definitely been a lot more fun than the past two years. We’re excited. We’re good with momentum and keep winning games. We’re going to keep working hard and see what happens.”
Spatola was one of five players to finish in double figures for the Royals with 13 points and also dished out seven assists. Brendan Carr led Scranton with 18 points. Nick Ruisi and Sammy Tornabene also contributed 13 points apiece and Ben Robinson chipped in 10 points. Tornabene finished one rebound shy of a double-double with nine boards.
Scranton led at halftime, 36-34, and increased the margin to 59-48 in the opening nine minutes of the second half.
But thanks to some hot 3-point shooting — particularly by Isaiah Valentine — Lycoming (0-7, 4-10) closed to within 65-61 with 6:34 remaining. Valentine finished with a game-high 31 points, including eight 3-pointers. The Warriors shot 14 for 29 from beyond the arc.
Robinson hit a 3-pointer from the right corner, then had a reverse layup off a feed from Spatola. A dunk by Tornabene and 3-pointer by Spatola capped a 10-5 spurt that gave the Royals a 75-66 lead with 2:47 to go.
Turnovers on Scranton’s next three possessions, however, enabled Lycoming to cut the deficit to 75-72 with 38.9 seconds left. But Spatola sank both ends of a one-and-one with 8.8 seconds left to seal the victory.
“I thought our guys responded well,” Royals coach Carl Danzig said. “We’ve been on a great run, working really hard, lot of positive things happening for us. This might have been the first game where we weren’t quick to everything, energy might have been a little low. But the end of the day we got the W, so that was good.”
There are a number of factors for Scranton’s turnaround.
As a team, Scranton leads the Landmark in scoring defense, allowing just 66.3 points. It tops Division III in 3-point percentage at 41.6 (109 for 262), 3-point percentage defense at 24.9 (80 for 321) and fourth in field-goal percentage at 50.1 (395 for 788).
“We’re playing several freshman who are able to create and make plays,” Danzig said. “And we’re making shots. If you make shots, it’s a lot easier. Last year was a combination of we just couldn’t make enough shots. We were a little bit bigger in certain positions. Now we’re a little bit smaller, a little bit quicker, so we’re just a little bit harder to guard.”
Perhaps the biggest reason is a talented recruiting class that has helped inject new life into the team. Freshmen like Robinson, who has started all 14 games and averages 6.3 points, and Josias Carbon, who provides a spark off the bench with 5.4 points.
“Our freshmen are great. They go out there and play like vets,” said sophomore and Abington Heights graduate Will Marion, who averaged 7.3 points. “They step up when we need them. You can’t ask for much more.”
Knowing he was going to rely heavily on the freshmen, Danzig scheduled a preseason trip to Montreal, Canada, in October for some games. It served as a bonding experience.
That togetherness has helped the Royals get through challenging moments during games, including late Wednesday against Lycoming.
“We’re a very close team and we stick together,” Robinson said. “Obviously we’re having a good year. It’s really fun and easy to be on this team. The camaraderie is something I’ve never experienced. It’s fun to play with these guys. Everybody’s very bought in and we have a lot of talent.”
Individually, Tornabene, a sophomore who was last year’s Landmark Rookie of the Year, leads the Royals with 19.4 points and 7.6 rebounds, which rank third and fourth, respectively, in the conference. Carr, a junior, averages 13.9 points and has a team-high 32 3-pointers, which ranks fifth in the league. Ruisi, another junior, averages 9.1 points, 5.6 rebounds and leads the conference in free-throw percentage at .933 (28 for 30).
Then there’s Spatola, who averages 11.1 points and 5.4 rebounds. One of three seniors on the team along with Luca Baratta and Teddy Spratt, he leads the Landmark with 5.2 assists and is second in assists-to-turnover ratio at 2.6 (73 to 28).
“These guys have really rallied around his leadership,” Danzig said. “And Will Marion as well. He’s done a great job as a sophomore being a tremendous voice of the team.
“These are great young men. At the end of the day, they have a goal. You can’t achieve those goals if you don’t get everybody on the same page. Team sports is such a fickle thing. So much of success comes from the fact that every single person on the team has a role and is connected in some way. We’ve got that going on.”
Up next for the Royals is a first-place showdown with rival Catholic University on Saturday at 2 p.m. at the Long Center. The Cardinals are 7-0 in the conference, 11-3 overall and ranked No. 23 in this week’s d3hoops.com men’s Top 25 poll. Scranton received nine votes for the poll this week, which means people are starting to take notice of the Royals’ success.
“Winning is fun,” Marion said. “But we’re always just looking forward to the next game, hoping we can pull out another win.”
Gwynedd Mercy 81, Marywood 76: At Scranton, Gwynedd Mercy held off Marywood University down the stretch to notch an Atlantic East Conference victory at Insalaco Arena.
Michel Loftin gave Marywood its final lead, 65-64, with eight minutes left. Gwynedd Mercy scored the next six points to take a 70-65 lead with 6:38 remaining. Three times, the Pacers trimmed the deficit to one, the last occasion coming on a Loftin foul shot with 1:20 left to make it 77-76. After the Griffins scored, Marywood missed two game-tying 3-point attempts and Gwynedd Mercy sealed the win with two free throws in the final 21 seconds.
Collin Himmelberg led the Pacers (1-2, 8-6) with 22 points and added five assists. Old Forge grad Joe Macciocco had 18 points and four steals off the bench. Loftin finished with 15 points and nine rebounds.
Women
At Williamsport, the University of Scranton built a 33-point halftime lead and coasted to an 88-36 victory over Lycoming College in a Landmark Conference game at Lamade Gymnasium.
Fourteen players found the scoring column for the No. 2-ranked Lady Royals (7-0, 14-0), led by Kaci Kranson with 18 points. Sophia Talutto and Elizabeth Bennett each added 12 points, which Katie Gorski chipped in 11 points. Kaeli Romanowski totaled three points, five rebounds, four assists and five steals.
On Saturday at 4 p.m., Scranton hosts rival Catholic University in a showdown for first place in the Landmark Conference.
Marywood 78, Gwynedd Mercy 74, 2 OT: At Gwynedd Valley, Marywood University rallied from a 12-point deficit early in the fourth quarter to pull out a double-overtime win over Gwynedd Mercy in an Atlantic East Conference game.
Down, 57-45, Marywood scored 10 straight points to pull within 57-55 with 6:19 left in regulation. Gwynedd Mercy pushed its lead back to 64-58 with 1:49 remaining. But Megan Cavoli scored and Mia Blume hit two free throws to make it a two-point game. The Griffins hit two free throws, but Ali Griscavage scored and Cavoli sank two foul shots with one second left to tie the game at 66 and force overtime.
Gwynedd Mercy led in the first overtime, 72-68, with 2:53 left. But Jewlya McCullon hit two free throws and Alli Anstadt scored with 49 seconds left to tie it and force a second overtime. There, McCullon hit two free throws, Cavoli and Tamari Hubbard had one each before two foul shots by Blume with 12 seconds left secured the win for the Pacers.
McCullon led Marywood (3-0, 8-6) with 19 points. Maddie Labatch added 16 points and Blume finished with 13. Cavoli grabbed nine rebounds and Griscavage had six blocks.
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