MADISON, N.J. (December 2, 2015) – On the strength of 62 combined points from senior guard Kevin Herring II, sophomore guard Yonathan Napoleon, and freshman forward Nate Aldrich, the Drew University men's basketball team took its first Landmark Conference contest, 79-70, over The United States Merchant Marine Academy on Wednesday night at the Baldwin Gymnasium.
 
Aldrich's 20 points were a career-high, and Herring II's 22 marks the fourth time in this season's five games that he has eclipsed the 20-point mark. Wednesday night's output pushes Herring II's points per game mark past 20, and ranks him third in the statistic in the Landmark Conference. Herring also pulled down 11 rebounds in the double-double outing. Senior co-captain Brian McLaughlin led the ball distribution with seven assists for the Rangers.
 
The Rangers refused to relinquish a double-digit lead throughout the majority of the second half. Herring II and Napoleon controlled the pace with crisp 3-point shooting. The two worked on the finishing touches of a pair of 20-plus point games.
 
Head Coach Darryl Keckler praised the Ranger effort on the night. "Our guys battled tonight, we had a good crowd, and our upperclassmen played well. They know what conference play is like."
 
The Rangers stymied a late Mariner run with two minutes to play when they forced a turnover, stormed back down, and tried multiple shots. The misses wound up in Drew's hands and Aldrich cleaned up the mess, netting a tricky fade away while picking up the foul. The good foul shot made it 72-63, Rangers. For good measure, Aldrich came out after the timeout and sank another two.
 
Keckler acknowledged the 6-6 forward's potential. "Nate is capable of giving us 15-20 points a game."
 
Aldrich seamlessly burst into the key with little resistance. Ranger guards worked it inside to him with passes only he could reach, and then convert for two-pointers in close. Those connections highlighted a 17-5 run over the contest's opening nine minutes.
 
Leading a one-on-three break, off his own steal, Herring II gave a head fake one way and slammed on the breaks, pulling up for a two-pointer from the foul line. The basket was Herring II's first, and gave Drew a 8-2 lead with four minutes elapsed in the first quarter.
 
Herring II's ability to drive deep into the offensive zone while maintaining stringent ball security sucked in Mariner defenders. As they flocked to cover his drives they left Ranger shooters open from behind the arc. They capitalized on those new opportunities. The Rangers were outrebounding and turning the ball over less frequently than the Mariners, coasting into the half with a 38-23 lead.
 
Herring II's shooting touch showed no ill effects of the halftime break. The junior banged in two deep threes to get the Rangers going in the second half, Herring II jogged back on defense confidently following the baskets.
 
Herring II and Napolean continued stretch the gap between the Rangers and Mariners. The duo drained three-balls with ease, and Napolean, at one point launched one from well beyond the arc as the shot clock expired, only for it to rattle in. The desperation jumper gave Drew a 58-48 lead with nine minutes to play. The Napolean-Herring II combo synced up again with seven minutes to play when Napoelean whipped in a sharp, two-handed feed from the arc to Herring II who cleaned it up with a layup. 
 
Drew's persistent ball control and key baskets down the stretch prevented the Mariners from mounting any significant threat.
 
The Rangers controlled the boards, outrebounding Merchant Marine, 47-34. The Mariners committed 29 fouls to Drew's 19, leading to 26 Drew points from the charity stripe.
 
Landmark Conference action rolls on as the Rangers host Goucher College on Saturday, December 5^th with tip-off scheduled for 2:00 p.m.