MADISON, N.J. – The Drew University men's basketball team made its first ECAC Championship appearance in more than two decades on Wednesday night, welcoming Neumann to Baldwin Gymnasium in the first round.  And both teams put on quite an offensive show.  After Neumann's Raquan Brown-Johnson sank a three-pointer with less than a second remaining in regulation to send the game into overtime, the Knights (21-8) outscored the Rangers (16-11) 19-15 in the extra period to earn a 114-110 victory.
 
Drew led 60-46 at halftime, but Neumann opened the second half on a 24-10 run to tie it at 70-70 with 11:26 left in regulation.  The teams then traded baskets until Yonathan Napoleon (Los Angeles, Calif.) drained a pair of free throws at the 25-second mark to put the Rangers up four, 94-90.  Brown-Johnson drove for a layup on the other end, after which the Knights took their final timeout.
 
It was Drew ball coming out of the timeout, and Napoleon was fouled with 15 seconds remaining.  He missed the front end of a one-and-one, but Nate Aldrich (Franklinville, N.J.) grabbed the offensive rebound.  He got the ball to Napoleon, who was sent to the line again with 13 seconds left.  Now shooting two, he missed the first and made the second, making it a three-point game, 95-92.  With Neumann forced to go for three, Brown-Johnson nailed one from the top of the key, tying the score at 95-95.
 
There was 0.6 seconds left on the clock, which was enough time for Drew to have a shot at winning it in regulation.  The Rangers threw it the length of the court, but weren't able to get a look before the horn, and the contest moved into overtime.  After the teams traded buckets to start the extra session, Brown-Johnson drained a trey to put Neumann up 100-97.  The Knights increased their cushion to 105-101 before a Riley Collins (Lacey, N.J.) three-pointer brought Drew back within one, 105-104, with 1:37 left. 
 
However, Neumann responded with six straight points to push its advantage to seven, 111-104, at the 25-second mark.  The Rangers ended the contest on a 6-3 rally to make the final margin four points, 114-110, as Drew suffered its second consecutive overtime loss to end the season.
 
Napoleon scored 31 points and added six rebounds in his final collegiate game, as Drew hit the 100-point plateau for the first time since a 117-59 victory over Mount Aloysius on Jan. 2, 2017.  Aldrich, meanwhile, notched a career-high 26 points to go along with 13 boards, as he posted his 12th double-double of the season.  Collins finished with 18 points and eight assists, while Sky Harris (Edison, N.J.) tallied 13 points and six boards off the bench.  The Rangers shot 52.7 percent (39-of-74) from the floor, 36.8 percent (14-of-38) from long range, and 85.7 percent (18-of-21) at the free throw line.
 
In the first half, Drew went a blistering 22-for-35 (62.9 percent) from the field, including 12-for-21 (57.1 percent) from three-point land.  The Rangers trailed 11-9 before a Napoleon three-pointer started a 19-8 rally that put them in front, 28-19, midway through the period.  After the Knights pulled within four, 30-26, Harris drained the first of four consecutive threes that increased Drew's advantage to 42-30 with 6:22 left before halftime.
 
Neumann scored the next four points to pull within eight, but a pair of Dan Roibal (Middletown, N.J.) free throws at the 5:19 mark sparked a 13-2 run that gave Drew its largest lead of the night, 55-36, with 2:40 left until halftime.  The Knights responded with a 10-2 spurt to make it a 11-point game, 57-46, before Napoleon drained a trey (his sixth of the half) to put the Rangers up 60-46 at the break.  Napoleon had 24 first-half points and made nine of his 10 shots in the period.
 
Brown-Johnson led five Knights in double-figures with 46 points.  He also recorded 16 rebounds, six assists, four steals and three blocks.  Tyaire Hudson tallied 22 points, eight rebounds and five steals, while Billy Cassidy posted 17 points, including the 1,000th of his career.  Aaron Johnson-Chavis finished with 14 points and eight boards, and Jordan Collins contributed 13 points.  Neumann shot 52.5 percent (42-of-80) from the field and outrebounded Drew 41-38.  The Knights were 7-for-19 (36.8 percent) from downtown and 23-for-33 (69.7 percent) at the charity stripe.
 
With the win, Neumann advanced to face Juniata in the quarterfinals on Friday.  Drew, meanwhile, wraps up a season in which it qualified for the postseason for the first time since the 1996-97 campaign.