FREDERICK, Md. – The Drew University men's basketball team saw its tremendous 2018-19 season come to a close on Saturday with a 77-62 loss to Brandeis University in the semifinals of the ECAC Division III Championship. The Rangers close out the year with a record of 23-7, winning four more games than any team in program history. Brandeis (17-11) moves on to the tournament final, where it will take on Rutgers-Newark.
 
How it Happened: Drew scored the first six points of the game and blanked the Judges for over four minutes to start the game. However, Brandeis came back to take the lead with 8:10 left in the half before closing the period on a 5-0 spurt, assuming a 35-28 halftime lead. The Judges would also score the first four points of the second stanza to push their advantage to 11.
 
Brandeis would eventually pull ahead by 13 before a 3-pointer by senior Sky Harris and a lay-up from classmate Chatham Studer made it 49-41 with 12:34 remaining. A lay-up from junior guard Riley Collins made it 51-43 with just under 12 minutes left, but that's when Brandeis used an 8-0 surge to open up some breathing room and the Rangers were unable to get closer than 15 the rest of the way.
 
Top Performers: Collins shot 9-for-14 and finished with 20 points while Harris contributed 12 points. Senior forward Nate Aldrich added six points and eight rebounds and finishes his career with 903 boards, a Landmark Conference record which ranks third in school history. Aldrich also concludes his career as the 12th all-time leading scorer in Drew history with 1,186 points. He racked up 38 double-doubles as a Ranger.
 
Stat Sheet: The Rangers shot 43.4 percent for the game and 90.9 percent (10-for-11) at the foul line while holding a 31-30 rebounding edge. Brandeis shot 54.1 percent and committed just nine turnovers.