Despite great performances from Terrell Brown and Joe Horvath, Drew men's basketball was unable to complete a second half comeback in a 76-69 loss to Swarthmore in the consolation match at the Washington & Lee Tournament in Lexington, Virginia. The Rangers cut an 11-point deficit to three in the final minute of play only to see the Garnet pull away in the final moments. Brown had 22 points and 10 rebounds while Horvath add 15 points and five boards off the bench for the Rangers (2-7). Will Gates had a game-high 29 for Swarthmore (2-8). Brown was named to the All-Tournament Team.
An evenly played first half ended with an appropriate 31-31 tie; neither squad was able to build a lead of more than five points in the period. The Rangers twice went up by three, once on McNeil Wrice's layup with 6:09 left and later on when Pat Dorsey drilled a triple off Luke Mullaney's assist. A late three by Gates countered Dorsey's basket for the 31-31 score. The lead changed hands seven times in the half and there were seven ties.
Drew again built a three point lead early in the second half. Kyle Joyce's trey off Mike Mayes' assist gave the Rangers a 36-33 edge with one minute played. The Garnet went on a 13-2 run following Joyce's hoop, culminating in Ryan Carmichael's three with 13:10 left to play. That eight point lead eventually grew to 11 with Jordan Martinez's three and again peaked at the difference when Carmichael hit a pair of free throws at the 7:30 mark.
Drew would show some fight before they were again sunk by near flawless foul shooting by its opponents, just like last night against Emory. Dorsey began the comeback with a pair of free throws and Brown followed up with a five points in three trips down court. Swarthmore made it difficult by hitting on three straight layups from Matt Allen, Danny Walker and Carmichael to retain a 61-53 lead with 4:10 left.
Swarthmore was up 62-53 after Gates' free throw with 2:56 on the clock before Mayes' driving layup. Brown had a steal and fast break hoop to make it a five point game, but Gates hit both of his foul shots at the other end. Another layup by Brown again made it five, but Danny Walker hit one of two for the Garnet. Buckets from Horvath and Brown were countered by free throws from Allen and Walker to leave the Rangers down by six with 48 seconds left.
Horvath drilled three nine seconds later to pull Drew to within a possession. They got the ball back down by four points, but saw a three point attempt rim out and with it their best chance to complete the comeback. Gates and Allen hit the Garnet's final six free throws with only a layup by Horvath and a free throw from Brown left in the Rangers' scoring.
The key to the contest was Swarthmore's hefty advantage from the free throw line in the second half. The Garnet hit 20-27 from the charity stripe in the decisive period with Drew grabbing just ten points from the line. Drew shot 41% overall (25-61) and hit seven threes with Joyce and Horvath each knocking down a trio.
The loss leaves the Rangers at 2-7 on the season with a big weekend up ahead. Drew will host Moravian and Scranton at Baldwin Gym on Friday and Saturday.
Newspaper Box Score
Drew Rangers vs Swarthmore
1/3/10 2:00 pm at Lexington, Va.
At Lexington, Va.
SWARTHMORE 76, DREW RANGERS 69
DREW RANGERS (2-7)
Terrell Brown 8-20 6-10 22; Joe Horvath 5-7 2-2 15; Kyle Joyce 3-9 0-0 9;
McNeil Wrice 4-8 0-0 8; Pat Dorsey 1-3 2-2 5; Lucas Levenson 2-2 0-0 4; Luke
Mullaney 1-2 0-0 2; Travis DeNapoli 0-4 2-2 2; Mike Mayes 1-6 0-0 2; Nick
Ganzfried 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-61 12-16 69.
SWARTHMORE (2-8)
Will Gates 9-18 7-8 29; Danny Walker 4-8 3-5 12; Ryan Carmichael 4-9 2-2 12;
Jordan Martinez 3-8 2-6 10; Matt Allen 2-8 4-4 9; Ramsey Walker 1-3 2-2 4;
Sam Lacy 0-0 0-0 0; Michael Giannangeli 0-2 0-0 0; Sean Conroe 0-0 0-0 0.
Totals 23-56 20-27 76.
Drew Rangers.................. 31 38 - 69
Swarthmore.................... 31 45 - 76
3-point goals--Drew Rangers 7-20 (Joe Horvath 3-4; Kyle Joyce 3-6; Pat
Dorsey 1-3; Luke Mullaney 0-1; Travis DeNapoli 0-3; Mike Mayes 0-1; McNeil
Wrice 0-1; Terrell Brown 0-1), Swarthmore 10-26 (Will Gates 4-11; Jordan
Martinez 2-3; Ryan Carmichael 2-4; Danny Walker 1-1; Matt Allen 1-6; Michael
Giannangeli 0-1). Fouled out--Drew Rangers-Mike Mayes, Swarthmore-None.
Rebounds--Drew Rangers 41 (Terrell Brown 10), Swarthmore 30 (Will Gates 7).
Assists--Drew Rangers 13 (Mike Mayes 5), Swarthmore 14 (Jordan Martinez 4).
Total fouls--Drew Rangers 20, Swarthmore 13. Technical fouls--Drew
Rangers-None, Swarthmore-None. A-115
Consolation game of the W&L Tournament
