MADISON, N.J. – The Drew University men's basketball team continued its tremendous season with a milestone win in Baldwin Gym Wednesday evening.
The Rangers (19-5, 11-2 LC) downed the University of Scranton 64-52 in a Landmark Conference (LC) tilt, tying the school the school record for victories. In addition, Drew clinched the No. 1 seed in the upcoming Landmark Conference playoffs for the first time in program history. The Rangers will host a conference semifinal next Wednesday at a time to be determined.
Senior forward Sky Harris scored a career-high 21 points to lead the Rangers, who won their fourth game in a row and remained undefeated in Baldwin Gym (6-0) this season. Drew also beat the Royals (19-5, 8-5 LC) for the first time since a 72-69 win at Scranton on Jan. 16, 2013.
How it Happened: It was a close game nearly the entire way before Drew pulled away in the closing minutes. Senior guard Darius Reiter drained a 3-pointer with 4:12 left to give the Rangers a 55-50 lead, and after Scranton scored with 3:39 remaining the defense took over, blanking the Royals the rest of the way. In the meantime, Harris converted a conventional 3-point play before senior forward Nate Aldrich stuck his own put-back to make it an eight-point game. Junior guard Riley Collins and Aldrich went on to make four straight free throws to set the final score with 1:36 remaining.
Scranton opened the game on a 6-0 run before the Rangers answered with seven straight points. It was an extremely tight game for the remainder of the half, which featured five ties and 13 lead changes, and Drew led 32-29 at the break. The Rangers would never trail in the second half, though the Royals tied it on three occasions.
Top Performers: Harris shot 9-for-15 from the field en route to his first career 20-point outing. Collins added 12 points and seven assists while senior forward Nate Aldrich registered his 11th double-double of the season with 10 points and 14 rebounds. Reiter and sophomore forward Malachi Walker contributed eight points apiece. Jackson Danzig led Scranton with 17 points.
Stat Sheet: Drew overcame a season-low 35.8% shooting night by forcing Scranton into 24 turnovers – the most by a Ranger opponent this season. The Blue and Green took advantage of the miscues, scoring 27 points off turnovers. The Royals held a 40-35 rebounding edge but shot just 6-for-12 at the foul line and had two players foul out.
Notes: Drew has posted the best record through 24 games in team history…Only the 1996-97 team (19-9) and the 1979-80 squad (19-8) have won as many games as the current Rangers.