Cardinals snap two-game skid by racing past Drew 85-54

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WASHINGTON – CUA had little trouble getting by Drew on Friday evening, racing past the Rangers 85-54 inside the DuFour Center.  The win snaps the Cardinals two-game losing streak and improves them to 16-5 overall and 6-4 in the Landmark Conference.  Chris Kearney led five Cardinals in double figures with 12 points.

During the early going, Drew was able to keep the game close, trailing by only six following a John Ford layup at the 13:06 mark.

The Cardinals took over from there though, ripping off an 11-3 run that pushed their lead to 14 with 7:49 to play before halftime.

Andy Roell's layup at the 4:13 mark made it a 15-point lead for the Cardinals and two minutes later, Nate Koenig converted an old-fashioned three-point play to extend to a 17-point advantage.

A conventional 3-pointer by Koenig then made it a 20-point spread and Darrell Carroll's bucket just before halftime sent the Cardinals into the locker room with a comfortable 41-19 lead.

Steve Limberiou scored right out of the gates for CUA in the second half to make it a 24-point advantage, and the Cardinals were well on their way.

Back-to-back layups by Billy Donovan and Kearney around the 15-minute mark extended the lead to 29, and after Limberiou sank a pair at the line at the 14:54 mark, CUA was in front by 31.

The lead reached 35 on Limberiou's jumper at the 13:20 mark, and 36 on Nate Lorence's bucket with 8:12 remaining in the game.

That wound up being the Cardinals' largest lead of the evening, but the margin hovered around 30 points for the remainder of the contest.

CUA held a 44-26 advantage on points in the paint, and the Cardinals also dominated on the backboards, holding a 50-31 lead in rebounds.  Limberiou led the way with 10 caroms, while Jared Prince finished with seven. 

Along with Kearney, Carroll, Koenig, Limberiou and Derek Puhalski reached double figures, each scoring 10 points. 

Drew had a tough time shooting the ball, connecting on only 35% from the floor and 10% from beyond the arc.  Ford led the Rangers with 11 points, but he was the lone player in double figures.

The Cardinals close out their regular season home schedule on Saturday when they welcome the Mariners of Merchant Marine Academy to town for a 4 p.m. tip.  CUA will honor its two-man senior class, Andy Roell and Darrell Carroll, prior to tip-off on Saturday.