Despite career highs from Evan Elberg, Joe Horvath and McNeil Wrice, Drew men's basketball was unable to knock off the TCNJ Lions in a 77-66 loss in Ewing, NJ.  The Rangers had a number of players put in strong performances, but despite cutting a 17 point deficit to six in the second half were held off by the Lions.  Elberg scored 17 points to lead the Rangers while Horvath had 16 for Drew (2-10).  TCNJ (8-5) had Aaron Syvertsen lead all scorers with 19 points.

The Rangers never led in the game and trailed by as many as 12 in the first half before a late rally brought the deficit into double digits.  With seven minutes remaining in the first half, Drew was down 25-14 before Elberg helped spark a small charge.  Elberg hit a pair of free throws before drilling a three and Travis DeNapoli followed with a layup off Terrell Brown's assist to make it five.  Horvath hit a jumper just two minutes later, but six points from the Lions had put the hosts up by nine.  Elberg scored on a driving layup to cut it seven before a final free throw from Steven Siracusa closed the scoring at 32-24.

After Horvath opened the scoring in the second half with a layup, the Lions put together a 14-5 run capped by Will Manhart's three point play at the 14:44 mark.  The TCNJ advantage would grow to 17 at 12:56 on William Jett's jumper before Drew mounted a comeback.  Lucas Levenson hit one of two free throws to start the run.  Elberg hit two more before setting up DeNaopli's layup with 11:43.  DeNapoli returned the favor by finding an open Elberg on the next possession for a three pointer as Drew closed to within nine points, 51-42.

TCNJ hit back with a 7-2 run to make it 58-44 before Drew again clawed back.  McNeil Wrice hit a three and Kyle Joyce followed with a jumper.  Drew eventually cut the lead down to six after Nick Ganzfriend's three and Mehmet Onen's layup at the four minute mark, 65-59.  Unfortunately for Drew, the Lions' home court advantage took over as TCNJ scored all 12 of its points from the free throw line in the final minutes to prevent Drew a successful rally as the hosts held on for a 77-66 win.

For Drew, there were plenty of performances to encourage the optimist.  First and foremost, Elberg's near flawless display.  Over 22 minutes, the freshman went 4-5 from the field, 3-3 from behind the arc and 6-6 from the line for a career high 17 points.  He also grabbed three rebounds and handed out three assists while committing no turnovers.  His five fouls were the lone blemish on the record for the evening.  Horvath has been a spark off the bench since returning from injury, but tonight, inserted into the starting lineup, he was even better.  He tied a career-high with 16 points while adding three assists in 35 minutes.  Wrice was the third Ranger to set a career high in points as he scored ten while hitting 3-3 from behind the arc.  Kyle Joyce, coming off the bench in this game, had six points and six rebounds in 19 minutes.  Having just completed a tough weekend doubleheader against Scranton and Moravian and with another Landmark twinbill ahead, Head Coach Darryl Keckler and his coaching staff spread the minutes around.  Nick Ganzfried had eight solid minutes of work with three points and no turnovers while Luke Mullaney and Memhet Onen contributed off the bench as well.  The Rangers hit a season best 9-19 from three point range and 13-18 from the foul line. 

The Lions had the difference in final score advantage from the free throw line 24-13.  TCNJ scored 20 of its 45 points in the second half from the line.  Syvertsen had 19 to lead all scorers while Steven Siracusa had 17 points and a team high nine rebounds and four steals. 

The Rangers will look to turn this new found depth into wins over the weekend as it travels to the mid-atlantic region for a pair of games against Goucher and Catholic on Saturday and Sunday.  

Newspaper Box Score
Drew University vs TCNJMBB
1/11/10 7 p.m. at Ewing, NJ (Packer Hall)
At Ewing, NJ (Packer Hall)

TCNJMBB 77, DREW UNIVERSITY 66
DREW UNIVERSITY (2-10)
Evan Elberg 4-5 6-6 17; Joe Horvath 6-14 2-4 16; McNeil Wrice 3-5 1-2 10;
Travis DeNapoli 2-4 2-2 6; Kyle Joyce 3-7 0-0 6; Nick Ganzfried 1-2 0-0 3;
Luke Mullaney 1-4 0-0 2; Lucas Levenson 0-3 2-4 2; Terrell Brown 1-6 0-0 2;
Mehmet Onen 1-4 0-0 2; Pat Dorsey 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 22-56 13-18 66.
 
TCNJMBB (8-5)
Aaron Syvertsen 8-16 2-2 19; Steven Siracusa 6-9 5-6 17; Jay Frank 4-12 6-8
16; Will Manhart 4-6 4-5 12; Brandon Johnson 1-2 5-8 7; William Jett 1-4 2-4
4; Christoph Schoenbeck 1-2 0-0 2; Pete Szukics 0-2 0-0 0; Al Matlock 0-2
0-0 0; Peter Kelly 0-0 0-0 0; Kyle Rawson 0-0 0-0 0; Alat-Eldin Ahmed 0-0
0-0 0; Steve Feinberg 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 25-57 24-33 77.
 
Drew University...............   24   42  -   66
TCNJMBB.......................   32   45  -   77
 
3-point goals--Drew University 9-19 (McNeil Wrice 3-3; Evan Elberg 3-3; Joe
Horvath 2-6; Nick Ganzfried 1-1; Luke Mullaney 0-1; Kyle Joyce 0-3; Travis
DeNapoli 0-2), TCNJMBB 3-14 (Jay Frank 2-4; Aaron Syvertsen 1-6; Will
Manhart 0-2; Al Matlock 0-1; Steve Feinberg 0-1). Fouled out--Drew
University-Evan Elberg, TCNJMBB-None. Rebounds--Drew University 34 (Kyle
Joyce 6), TCNJMBB 38 (Steven Siracusa 9). Assists--Drew University 13 (Evan
Elberg 3; Joe Horvath 3), TCNJMBB 17 (Will Manhart 4; Brandon Johnson 4).
Total fouls--Drew University 25, TCNJMBB 18. Technical fouls--Drew
University-None, TCNJMBB-None. A-100