University of Scranton to open basketball season Feb. 9

For Jackson Danzig, it was nerve-racking seeing schools and leagues cancel their basketball seasons, all the time wondering if the University of Scranton and the Landmark Conference would suffer the same fate.

His fears were calmed a bit last week when the conference announced it was moving forward with a season. On Monday, it became official with the release of men’s and women’s basketball schedules.

Scranton men tip off their season Tuesday, Feb. 9 by hosting Moravian at 7 p.m. at the John Long Center.

“Our whole team is ecstatic,” said Danzig, a junior and Abington Heights graduate. “To be able to have a season at all is awesome. I’m so glad our school was able to pull it together. We’re very excited. Now it’s time to get to work.”

The Lady Royals also open Feb. 9 at Moravian at 7 p.m.

“It feels great,” Lady Royals second-year coach Nick DiPillo said. “There has been so much talk about plans for a season, what might happen, what could happen. You’re figuring ways to keep the kids engaged. So finally seeing a schedule, there was no substitute for that. We had a nice burst of energy at practice today.

“I’m excited and thankful for everyone at Scranton for making it happen. I know it wasn’t easy, so I’m appreciative of it and so are the kids.”

Five of the Landmark’s eight schools opted to play this season — Scranton, Catholic, Drew, Juniata and Moravian. Elizabethtown, Goucher and Susquehanna chose not to play.

Each team will play home-and-home against the other four for an eight-game regular season that concludes Feb. 27. All five teams will qualify for the conference postseason tournament, which opens March 2 with a play-in game between the Nos. 4 and 5 seeds. Semifinals are scheduled for March 4 and the championship game will be March 6. The conference champion will receive an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III tournament.

“It’s going to be a quick season. Lots of back-to-backs, so we’ll have to be in shape and conditioned,” Danzig said. “Some people will say it won’t matter as much, but I think this will be a more important season than a regular one. It’s going to be a test of team character. We’ll see how it goes. We’re excited. We want to win this year.”

However, fans will not be allowed at games because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. All games will be streamed on the new Landmark Conference Digital Network at landmarknetwork.tv.

“We’ve always been fortunate to have a huge home court advantage. Our fans have always brought some big energy,” Royals coach Carl Danzig said. “Now it’s going to be upon us, our bench and our staff to create that energy.

“If that’s the way it has to be, so be it. At the end of the day, I’m just happy we’re playing.”

The Royals are coming off a 19-8 season that saw them lose to Susquehanna in the Landmark championship game.

Meanwhile, the Lady Royals went 24-4 and captured their fifth straight Landmark title before losing in the first round of the NCAA Division III tournament to Endicott College.

“We expect to play at our highest level,” DiPillo said. “The standard here is the standard. We’re going to put our best foot forward.”

Coach Danzig said regardless of how the season looks, the goal remains the same.

“Winning is winning,” coach Danzig said. “We have a chance to win our 26th conference title. Asterisk or not, it will still go up on the banner. That’s what our place is all about, winning championships. I’m looking forward to it and the guys are too.”

Men’s schedule

Women’s schedule