Drew men's basketball rallies past TCNJ in Stevens Tournament consolation game

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HOBOKEN, N.J. - The Drew University men's basketball team erased an 11-point second-half deficit to beat The College of New Jersey 82-75 in the consolation game of the Stevens Holiday Tournament Monday afternoon.

Senior guard Riley Collins led all scorers with 28 points for the Rangers (8-2) to earn a spot on the all-tournament team. He also dished out four assists and finished the tournament with 50 points. Collins' 28 points marked his second-highest total of the season and his 11th career 25-point game.

Drew posted a big second half for the second game in a row, outscoring the Lions 50-37 in the second stanza. The Rangers shot 56.0% from the floor in the final 20 minutes, when it scored 19 points at the foul line after attempting just two free throws in the opening period. On Sunday, the Rangers outscored No. 13 Johns Hopkins 53-46 in the second period.

Junior forward Lybrant Robinson contributed 14 points for Drew while junior guard Miles Lewis posted nine points and five rebounds. Senior guard Michael Boice also netted nine points while freshman forward Howard McBurnie, Jr. grabbed 11 rebounds. Junior forward Malachi Walker, Jr. notched eight rebounds and three blocked shots while becoming just the sixth player in school history to reach 100 career rejections.

Randall Walko scored 24 points on 6-of-8 3-point shooting for TCNJ (4-6) while Ryan Jensen scored 23 points for the Lions.

The Rangers trailed 48-37 with 17:45 left before mounting their comeback, starting with a 9-2 run that was capped by a fastbreak dunk from Robinson that made it 48-44 with 15:02 remaining.

TCNJ nudged its lead back to nine, but Drew answered once again. Boice went 3-for-3 at the foul line to make it 57-54 with 10:19 left, and Lewis tied it at 59-59 with a conventional 3-point play at the 8:10 mark. Lewis converted a put-back with 7:01 left to give Drew its first lead (64-62) since the opening half, and the Rangers would not trail the rest of the way.

Walko connected on his last 3-pointer with 5:13 remaining to pull the Lions even at 68-68, but the Rangers answered with the next four points. Collins and McBurnie each dropped in a bucket while the defense came up with a pair of big stops.

Robinson stepped up down the stretch for the Rangers, scoring twice after the Lions pulled to within two. He hit a pair of free throws with 2:30 left to make it 74-70, then drove in for a big lay-up with 48 seconds left that gave his team a 76-72 advantage. Collins and Lewis each went 2-for-2 at the foul line on the team's next two possessions to give Drew an insurmountable 80-72 lead with 25 seconds left.

TCNJ opened the game on a 14-4 run, but the Rangers came back to take the lead (24-23) on a spinning lay-up from Collins with 5:13 on the clock. Three lead changes and one tie would ensue over the next 1:21 before the Lions ended the half on a 10-0 run to assume a 38-32 lead at the break.

Drew returns home on Saturday, when it hosts Rutgers-Newark at 4 p.m. in a non-conference tilt.