SCRANTON, Pa. (Jan. 6, 2015) – Despite having the lead for roughly 35 minutes of the contest, the Drew University men's basketball team dropped a heartbreaker to No. 24 The University of Scranton Royals 73-69 on Tuesday evening.
 
The Royals (10-2, 4-0) jumped ahead with two minutes to play. Drew hadn't trailed since the score was 3-2, Scranton. The Rangers (7-5, 3-1) relinquished their near game-long lead when a Royal guard weaved through Drew's motionless defense and guided in an easy layup. 59-58, Royals with five minutes to play.
 
The Rangers, in unfamiliar territory score-wise, responded. Junior guard Kevin Herring II ripped down a rebound and flew up the court before finding Klinger in the corner. The Ranger guard drilled the 3-pointer and the Rangers had the lead again.
 
Important threes continued to fall for Drew who soon found itself trailing by two. They charged up the court and Herring drained another deep ball. Drew had the lead. Scranton, not to be outdone, responded with a three of its own, Drew called timeout.
 
With 20 seconds to play Scranton had possession and called a timeout with four seconds on the shot clock. They led by three.
 
Out of the timeout, the Royals set a pick and roll and the point guard exploded into the paint and sank the dagger layup. The five-point deficit would prove too much to overcome and as seconds ticked away junior guard Mike Klinger missed a three-pointer, effectively ending the contest.
 
The loss marked the second time this season that Drew was narrowly defeated by a nationally ranked team. The Rangers fell to No. 15 Amherst College by a score of 78-74 one week ago.
 
The Rangers camped out from beyond the arch and began storming threes down on the Royals. Herring was the main culprit and sank back-to-back treys to help open up a 31-22 Ranger lead with five minutes to play in the first half.
 
Herring abruptly withdrew from his insistent deep-range onslaught and began fouling and turning the ball over, resulting in his temporary removal from the game. Scranton pounced on Drew and kicked into a 7-0 run that narrowed the deficit significantly. The score stood at 31-29 before Klinger drove had to the rim and flipped in a quick layup.
 
With time ticking away Klinger stepped in again, drawing alert defense from Scranton around the perimeter. His eyes hinted towards another drive but he jab stepped as the Royal defender backpedaled in anticipation. Klinger whipped it to junior forward Ozan Yucetepe who sank a deep three as time expired. With all five point scorers shooting 57 percent or better, the Rangers skipped into the half atop a 36-29 lead.
 
When action started up again the squads exchanged baskets and the deficit stood around five in favor of Drew for the first few minutes.
 
It was clear that Yucetepe was feeling it from deep. He ran the point with confidence and mirroring his counterpart Klinger, the 6-foot-8 forward shook once, twice, feigned a push of the ball and a step towards the rim. The much smaller defender backtracked and took a big step back, Yucetepe had him. If he wanted to, he could've drove to the rack, exploited the mismatch and converted an easy two. And he would've if he hadn't the hot hand from the arch. He jab stepped, gathered both feet behind the line, and buried it. Three points.
 
That moment would prove to be the high point in the contest for the Rangers, there lead would dwindle and disappear.
 
The Rangers will look to rebound with another key conference battle against Moravian College (1-10, 0-3). The tilt is scheduled for a 7:00 start on Thursday, Jan 8.