Box Score Madison, N.J. (February 19, 2014) – The Drew men's basketball team (11-13, 5-8) defeated the United States Merchant Marine Academy (12-12, 6-7), 77-63 tonight in Baldwin Gym. At 5-8 in league play the Rangers sit fifth in the conference standings.

Sophomore Mike Klinger (Franklin Park, N.J./Rutgers Preparatory School) paced the Ranger offense scoring 24 points. The Drew guard added three rebounds and three assists to his stat line in 28 minutes of action. Classmate Jason Huelbig (Middletown, N.J./Middletown North) recorded his first career double-double, scoring 14 points and grabbing 10 rebounds for the Rangers in the victory.

Drew started the scoring taking a 5-0 lead in the first minute of play. Merchant Marine countered with a run of their own cutting the Drew lead to two, 9-7 at the 16:34 mark in the first half. The Rangers opened up a 10 point lead, 17-7 after back-to-back three-pointers from senior guard John Ford (Holbrook, N.Y./Sachem North) and sophomore Brian McLaughlin (Blauvelt, N.Y./Tappan Zee).  A jumper from senior Jason Chornyei (Westerly, R.I./Cheshire Academy) with 11:57 left gave the Rangers their largest lead of the half (12), 24-12. Merchant Marine closed the period on an 18-8 run cutting the Ranger advantage, 32-30 at the break.

The Rangers opened the second half with back-to-back lay-ups from Huelbig and a three-pointer from Kliner extending their lead to five, 39-34 with 17:35 left in the game. The Mariners took their only lead of the game at the 11:34 capping a 13-7 run giving them a 47-46 advantage. Drew's offensive attack proved too much for the Mariners down the stretch as the team shot 58 percent from the field in the final 10 minutes of play.

Nick Sergio led the Mariners recording a double-double, scoring 15 points and grabbing 12 rebounds. Zach Karczewski scored 12 points in 36 minutes of action for the Mariners in defeat.

John Ford closed his night playing 35 minutes, scoring 11 points and grabbing eight rebounds in his 24^th start of the season. Sophomore Kevin-Michael Miller (Rockaway, N.J./Morris Knolls) scored eight points, and rejecting five Mariner shot attempts.

The Rangers close the season on Saturday February 22 at 2:00 p.m. in the opening game of a men's and women's double-header in Baldwin Gym. The game will mark the final game at home for seniors Jason Chornyei, Bob Falconiero (Moorestown, N.J./Bishop Eustace) and John Ford.