SELINSGROVE, PA - Cooper Haberern, who scored 13 points on Saturday, made two key three-pointers in the final six minutes as the Susquehanna men's basketball team picked up a home Landmark Conference victory over Scranton, 68-60.
Haberern, one of three players in double digits for the River Hawks, made a deep three pointer to beat the shot clock with just 37 seconds left to take an eight-point lead, effectively putting the game away. The other two players in double digits – Billy Anderson and Mike Pirone, who tallied 19 and 13 points, respectively. Saturday marked the fourth straight game that Anderson (19 points) has scored 15+ points and the fifth straight game that he has reached the double-digit mark in points. 11 of his 19 points came in the first half, one that saw the River Hawks outscore Scranton, 35-29, going into intermission.
Anderson started the first-half scoring for Susquehanna followed by a three-pointer by Jackson Van Wagener to take the lead, one that the River Hawks would not surrender for the remainder of the half. Van Wagener, who had nine points in the game, was a key first half contributor alongside Brandon Lavitt, who scored eight points in the game with four coming in the first half. Scranton continued to chip away in the second half, scoring and answering when the River Hawks would respond. The Royals were able to capture the lead with just under ten minutes left in the game. The two teams went back and forth, trading buckets as Scranton continued to hold on. Pirone then, with around 4:30 remaining, grabbed a 59-58 lead for the River Hawks with a driving layup. Susquehanna held onto that same lead, following up Pirone's big bucket with a 9-2 run in the game's final four minutes.
One of the keys to victory coming into the game for Susquehanna was turnovers as they surrendered a season high against Drew on Wednesday. They were able to reduce that number significantly, only giving the ball up nine times against Scranton. The River Hawks shot nearly 50% from the field, shooting 27-55 and shot 75% from the free-throw line at 9-12, beating out Scranton's best effort that produced 24-of-55 shooting for 43.6 percent, along with 6-of-25 threes and 6-of-14 free throws.
The win for Susquehanna gets them to 6-7, while their Landmark Conference record improves to 3-3 in a key moment of the season. The River Hawks look to continue their success when they take the short hop up the road Wednesday evening for a meeting at Lycoming, set for a 7 p.m. tipoff.
