NEWARK, N.J. – The Drew University men's basketball team led by 10 with less than eight minutes left, but Rutgers-Newark rallied late, handing the Rangers a 66-62 setback. With the loss, Drew (7-2) saw its four-game winning streak come to an end. However, the Rangers are still off to their best start through nine games since the 1979-80 squad was also 7-2.
 
How it Happened: The Rangers led 58-48 with 7:58 remaining after a pair of free throws from senior forward Sky Harris. But that's when the Scarlet Raiders (6-5) began their comeback. An 11-0 run gave R-N its first lead of the game, but junior guard Riley Collins put Drew back in front (60-59) with a lay-up at the 1:36 mark. However, the Scarlet Raiders' Tyler Ofray hit four straight free throws to go back in front, 63-60, with 50 seconds left. A put-back from senior forward Nate Aldrich drew the Rangers within a point with 27 seconds on the clock before Ofray connected on two more foul shots with 24 ticks showing. Drew missed a desperation 3-pointer before Ofray sealed the win with 1.7 seconds left, making 1-of-2 free throws.
 
First Half: Neither side led by more than five in a close first half. The Rangers led 32-27 with 50 seconds left after a pair of free throws from Aldrich, but R-N scored the last four points of the period to cut the deficit to one at the intermission.
 
Second-Half Runs: Drew used a 13-3 run early in the second half to assume an eight-point lead (45-37) just over three minutes into the period. Newark pulled to within two with 11:17 left, only to see the Rangers use an 8-0 spurt to assume their late 10-point lead.
 
Top Performers: Senior guard Darius Reiter scored a team-high 13 points to lead the Rangers while Aldrich notched 11 points and nine rebounds. Harris contributed 11 points and six rebounds while Collins posted nine points and four steals.
 
Stat Sheet: It was an evenly-played game from a statistical standpoint, as Drew shot 39.2 percent for the game while the Raiders connected on 39.5 percent of their shots. The Rangers held a slight 29-28 rebounding advantage while both teams shot well at the free-throw line. Drew finished 13-for-14 at the charity stripe while Newark went 26-for-29, with Ofray going 17-for-18 en route to a game-high 23 points, including his team's final eight.
 
Next Up: The Rangers take 13 days off from competition before returning to action on Dec. 28, when they take on Stockton University in the first round of the Randolph-Macon Coaches Tournament.