WASHINGTON (Feb. 25, 2015) – The Drew University men's basketball season came to a close in the Landmark Conference Championship semifinals at top-seeded The Catholic University of America after a 79-53 loss on Wednesday evening.
 
Junior forward Jason Huelbig led the Rangers (12-14) on both ends of the floor in their final game of the 2014-15 season with 16 points and nine rebounds. Huelbig was 4-of-8 from the floor with two 3-pointers and a 6-of-8 mark from the free throw line, while junior swingman Ozan Yucetepe heated up in the second half and netted 15 points on the strength of four 3-pointers.
 
Drew's appearance in the Landmark Conference playoffs was its second since the league's inception in 2007-08 and its first appearance since 2010-11.
 
The two Landmark semifinalists started the playoff contest on polar opposites of the field goal shooting spectrum. The Cardinals made close to 50 percent of their shots in the first half while holding a consistent double-digit lead over the Rangers, who struggled early from the floor (5-of-20).
 
Drew's season-long catalyst, the three-point shot, also got off to a slow start. The Rangers made 3-of-11 attempts from beyond the arc in the first half. Catholic also used a stark advantage in rebounding (28-15 at half's end) to aid its quick start. Runs of 7-0 and 5-0 had the home squad up by nine less than five minutes into the game.
 
Catholic followed with a 9-0 spurt to take a 25-8 lead midway through the half. Junior guard Brian McLaughlin halted the Catholic run with a three-pointer. He also took Drew's next shot on the ensuing possession and was fouled hard attempting a trey. McLaughlin made 2-of-3 from the line and the Rangers trailed 27-13 with 9:12 to play in the half.
 
Catholic kept the pressure on with another 6-0 run en route to its first 20-point lead, with the Cardinals' perennial leading scorers pacing the offense in Kyle Phanord and Corey Stanford. The Cardinals coasted into halftime leading 39-19. Stanford led all scorers at half with 13 on 5-of-9 shooting, while Phanord, Bryson Fonville and Jay Howard each had eight at the break. McLaughlin led all Drew scorers with five points going into the locker room.
 
Yucetepe personally kept up with Catholic to open the second half scoring. The Drew guards found the athletic big man in open space, and Yucetepe converted with a layup and two 3-pointers to keep pace early in the second half.
 
With just under 15 minutes to play, junior guard Mike Klinger started a fast break and tossed a long pass ahead to junior guard Kevin Herring II, who planted and nailed a triple. Yucetepe followed with his third 3-pointer of the half and senior forward Zach Nolan converted an up-and-under layup as Drew cut the Catholic lead to 50-36 with 13:52 remaining.
 
Catholic had a quick answer offensively and stretched its lead back to 20 points two minutes later. The Cardinals also held true to its defensive game plan, namely, shutting down Drew's top two scorers in Klinger and Herring. Klinger, the league's leading scorer heading into the postseason, was held to three points. Herring, the league's most accurate three-point shooter this season, made 2-of-7 from distance and finished with six points.
 
Drew's four seniors, Brian Ford, Steve Hydzik, Robby Bier and Nolan finished out the 2014-15 season on the court for the Rangers with some meaningful and hard-fought minutes. They helped close out one of the most prolific scoring seasons in Drew history.
 
The 2014-15 Rangers finished with 1,960 total points, the fifth highest total in program history and the most since 1996-97. Having already set the school record for three-pointers in a season earlier this year, the Rangers officially set the new mark at 239 with the 2014-15 campaign in the books.