MADISON, N.J. (Feb. 4, 2017) – For the second time this season, the Drew University men's basketball team and The Catholic University of America went down to the wire, and the Cardinals survived the late-game dramatics. Catholic overcame a 16-point deficit to defeat the Rangers in a crucial Landmark Conference game, 85-80, in Baldwin Gymnasium on Saturday.
 
By the Numbers: Catholic secures the season sweep over Drew and improves to 15-6 overall and 7-3 in conference. The Rangers see their records fall to 11-10 and 5-5, with an 8-4 season mark in Baldwin.
 
Playoff Picture: With the win, the Cardinals help their case for a top four spot in the standings and a possible playoff berth with just four games remaining. Moravian also won on Saturday as they join Catholic to sit two games ahead of Drew, who remains in fifth place. Three of Drew's remaining four games are against teams in current playoff position.
 
Top Performers
• Freshman guard Riley Collins led four Rangers in double-figures with 18 points, four 3-pointers, three rebounds, two assists and a steal.
• Junior guard Yonathan Napoleon had the hot hand early and finished with 13 points and four assists.
• Sophomore guard Dan Roibal provided an important spark off the bench with 15 points, nine rebounds and four assists.
• Sophomore forward Chatham Studer was efficient as ever, scoring 12 points on 6-of-7 shooting in just 13 minutes of action.
 
Turning Point: With 3:35 left to play, Catholic began a 6-0 run to take its first lead since opening the game up 7-0. The Cardinals led 79-73 before Collins pulled Drew closer with a quick transition jumper from mid-range with 30 seconds left. The Rangers were forced to foul and with ice in his veins, Catholic's Louis Khouri drained two freebies despite Baldwin Gym's best efforts to disrupt his concentration.
 
Collins again answered on the other end with another quick jumper to make it 81-77 before another foul. This time, Catholic missed and sprung Napoleon down the court. With 17 ticks left, Napoleon handed off to Collins beyond the NBA range for three-point field goals, yet Collins still sank the big-time bucket with ease to pull within one.
 
Khouri knocked down another pair of pressure-packed free throws before Catholic wisely fouled Collins on the floor to prevent a game-tying shot. Collins missed the front end of the one-and-one and Catholic iced the game with another pair of free throws.
 
Highlights
• Drew used a 15-3 run to take a 27-20 lead, highlighted by three-point field goals from Napoleon, Collins and sophomore guard Darius Reiter.
• With 5:46 to play in the opening half, Collins pulled up for a fast break triple for Drew's first double-digit lead at 34-24. The Rangers would make two more threes on the break from Collins and freshman guard Cole Hanntz as the lead ballooned to 16 (45-29) with 1:33 left in the half.
• Roibal sent Drew to intermission up 49-35 with an offensive rebound and a put back at the buzzer.
• Catholic started the second half on a 10-2 run and eventually tied the game at 57-57 with 9:50 remaining. Four tie scores and five lead changes ensued leading up to the thrilling finish.
 
Stat Sheet
• Catholic junior Jay Howard led all scorers with 28 points on 12-of-22 shooting.
• Both teams shot 44 percent from the floor, but Catholic took advantage of its trips to the line with a 19-of-26 mark (73 percent).
• Both teams performed well on the fast break with Drew scoring 11 and Catholic, 10. They were also virtually even in rebounding (45-42 Drew), points in the paint (40-38 Catholic), second chance points (11-11) and points off turnovers (14-13 Catholic).
 
Up Next: The Rangers hit the road on Wednesday, Feb. 8 at 7:00 p.m. at The University of Scranton as Landmark Conference play enters the final stretch.