Drew men's basketball continued to show its vast improvement, but were unable to pull off an upset in a 76-70 loss at Scranton.  Drew nearly won its fourth straight game thanks to some tremendous shooting and another big game from Mike Mayes.  The Royals needed a career game from senior Eli Londo and some late game heroics from Zach Ashworth to escape with the win.  Drew's three-game winning streak was snapped with the loss as it falls to 7-13, 3-6 in the Landmark Conference.  The Royals improve to 12-8 overall, 6-3 in the LC.

The game started well with both sides showing plenty on offense.  With 12:24 left, Joe Horvath cut the Royal lead to one, 15-14, with a jumper.  The Royals would build a 12 points lead over the next nine minutes of play.  Drew was able to pull two points back from that lead thanks to a three point play and then a three pointer by Kyle Joyce to make it 39-29 heading into the break.

The hosts still lead by double digits five minutes into the second half as Eli Londo scored five points in quick succession and Dan O'Connell hit a three to bring the score to 47-36.  Mike Mayes sparked a rally by drawing a foul on a drive to the hoop.  The junior has found his shooting stroke from the line lately and showed it by hitting the pair.  Travis DeNapoli followed with a layup and after a Royal free throw, Mayes hit two more.  Kyle Joyce's layup off Terrell Brown's assist made it a four point game before McNeil Wrice's three point play with 11:39 brought the score to 48-47. 

The Royals responded with eight points over their next six possessions though Kyle Joyce's three helped keep it close.  The Royals tried to pull away, but each time the Rangers were able to pull back though a layup by Joyce, a three from Mayes and a jumper by Brown as the game entered the final six minutes with Drew down by three, 60-57. 

Another Joyce three tied it up at 60-60, but Ashworth replied with one of his own.  With 2:17 left the Royal hit another to make it 70-64 and give Drew a big hill to climb in the final 120 seconds.  Terrell Brown came up with a big play to stripe Ashworth of the ball and then draw a foul.  Brown hit both with 1:25 left to bring it to 70-66 and reignite the Rangers upset hopes. 
The death of the comeback came with 53 seconds left; the Rangers, as they have a number of times during this three game winning streak, came up with a bit stop, but Ashworth's desperate three was rebounded by Luke Hawk and the Rangers were forced to foul on the Royals' second chance.  From the line Ashworth didn't miss, hitting four straight free throws over the next twenty seconds.  Mayes and Brown each put in layups in the final twenty seconds of play, but Scranton hit two more free throws to prevent the miracle.

Mayes led the Rangers with 21 points and six rebounds despite losing 13 minutes to foul trouble.  Kyle Joyce continues to thrive coming off the bench with 16 points, on 6-11 shooting, and six boards.  Brown had an efficient 14 points on 6-7 from the field.  McNeil Wrice had nine points and four rebounds.  For the game, Drew shot 58.3% from the field, 28-48, and outrebounded the Royals 26-23.  Drew also committed just 11 turnovers in the game. 

Scranton was just as efficient with a 48.9% shooting percentage and 21-25 from the line.  Londo had a career high 23 points while Ashworth had 21, 11 from the charity stripe. 

The loss hurts Drew's playoff hopes as it falls to 3-6 in conference play, two full games back of Susquehanna in fourth place.  Still, the six point defeat at Scranton is a clear sign of improvement for the young Rangers; the Royals are 47-10 at the Long Center over the last four season including 10-2 this season.    The Rangers lost by thirty in Steamtown last year and 18 the year before.  Drew has the rest of the week off before taking the trip out to Juniata on Friday.

Newspaper Box Score
Drew Rangers vs SCRMBB10
1-30-10 4:00pm at Long Center, Scranton, Pa.
At Long Center, Scranton, Pa.

SCRMBB10 76, DREW RANGERS 70

DREW RANGERS (7-13/3-6 Lndmark)
Mike Mayes 8-13 4-7 21; Kyle Joyce 6-11 1-1 16; Terrell Brown 6-7 2-2 14;
McNeil Wrice 4-5 1-1 9; Joe Horvath 3-5 0-0 7; Travis DeNapoli 1-3 0-0 2;
Lucas Levenson 0-0 1-2 1; Mehmet Onen 0-0 0-0 0; Nick Ganzfried 0-0 0-0 0;
Evan Elberg 0-3 0-0 0; Pat Dorsey 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 28-48 9-13 70.
SCRMBB10 (12-8/6-3 Lndmark)
Eli Londo 8-11 5-6 23; Zach Ashworth 4-15 11-11 21; Matt Swaback 5-6 0-0 12;
Travis Farrell 3-5 1-2 9; Luke Hawk 1-4 3-4 5; Dan O'Connell 1-4 0-0 3; RJ
Wallace 1-1 1-2 3; Anthony Carlino 0-1 0-0 0; Dan Hilferty 0-0 0-0 0. Totals
23-47 21-25 76.

Drew Rangers..................   29   41  -   70
SCRMBB10......................   39   37  -   76

3-point goals--Drew Rangers 5-14 (Kyle Joyce 3-8; Joe Horvath 1-1; Mike
Mayes 1-2; Travis DeNapoli 0-1; Evan Elberg 0-1; McNeil Wrice 0-1), SCRMBB10
9-21 (Matt Swaback 2-3; Eli Londo 2-2; Zach Ashworth 2-8; Travis Farrell
2-3; Dan O'Connell 1-4; Luke Hawk 0-1). Fouled out--Drew Rangers-Mike Mayes;
Joe Horvath, SCRMBB10-None. Rebounds--Drew Rangers 26 (Mike Mayes 6; Kyle
Joyce 6), SCRMBB10 23 (Luke Hawk 5; Travis Farrell 5). Assists--Drew Rangers
13 (Evan Elberg 4), SCRMBB10 18 (Travis Farrell 5; Zach Ashworth 5). Total
fouls--Drew Rangers 24, SCRMBB10 14. Technical fouls--Drew Rangers-None,
SCRMBB10-None. A-350