SCRANTON, Pa. (January 13, 2012) – After a neck and neck battle over the first 20 minutes of play, Scranton (11-4, 4-0 Landmark) pulled away in the final 10 minutes for a 65-52 win over Drew (2-13, 0-4 Landmark) this evening in the Long Center. Senior Asmar Capers (Bridgewater, N.J./Bridgewater-Raritan) poured in a game-high 25 points in the loss.

The Royals were led by a pair of double-digit scorers in Travis Farrell and Luke Hawk. The senior, Hawk, led all Scranton scorers with 16 points off the bench to go along with seven rebounds. Farrell chipped in 11 points for the balanced Royal attack.

Besides Capers' 25 points, the Rangers scoring rounded out with four players registering six points. Dara Mc Keon (Dunboyne, Ireland/St. Peter's College) and sophomore John Ford (Holbrook, N.Y./Sachem North) had six each and both hauled in a team-high seven rebounds.

Neither team took control of the first half of play with the lead changing a total of six times and knotting up on three separate occasions. After the score was tied at 24 with 4:47 remaining in the first half, the Royals scored the next six points for the largest lead since the opening minutes. Capers was able to knock down a pair of free throws before the halftime horn to make the score 30-26.

The Rangers would not lead for the remainder of the contest as the Royals methodically answered each one of the Rangers counters. With 12:17 left in the game, Capers made one of two foul shots to work the Scranton lead back down to nine. Two possessions later, off a Ranger turnover, Farrell came up with a steal and a fast break layup to make the score 45-34.

That would be the closest the visiting Rangers would get for the remainder of the contest as Scranton held leads as high as 19 over the final five minutes of play. Drew lost the battle of the boards pulling down only 32 to as a team compared to 41 by the hometown Royals.

Drew will look to bounce back tomorrow afternoon in search of their first conference win when they travel south to take on Moravian. The two teams split the season series a year ago, with the Rangers winning the last contest in triple overtime in Baldwin Gym. Tip-off is set for 2:00 p.m. in Johnston Hall.