MADISON, N.J. - The Drew University men's basketball team held off a late rally from Juniata College to pick up a 68-65 Landmark Conference victory Sunday afternoon in Baldwin Gym.

The Rangers (4-1, 4-1 LC) led by as much as 23 early in the second half, only to see the Eagles climb back and make it a three-point game in the closing seconds. Juniata's Michael Montecalvo had a chance to tie it at the buzzer, but his 3-point attempt bounced off the backboard, around the rim and out.

Drew is now alone in first place in the Landmark Conference standings heading into the final week of the regular season. The Rangers will finish with three games before competing in the Landmark playoffs during the first week of March.

Junior guard David Gervase led Drew with a season-high 26 points in 27 minutes off the bench, shooting 8-for-12 and 4-for-6 from 3-point range. Sophomore forward Howard McBurnie, Jr. added his third double-double of the season with 12 points and a season-high 16 rebounds while senior forward Lybrant Robinson also netted 12 points.

Montecalvo scored 17 points to lead Juniata (2-3, 2-3 LC) while Kyle Ruggery contributed 15 points and five assists.

Gervase pumped in 17 of his points and knocked down all four of his triples in a big first half in which the Rangers outscored the Eagles 37-15. Drew never trailed and outscored Juniata 22-3 over the final nine minutes of the half. The Rangers held the visitors to just 21.4 percent shooting in the period.

Drew enjoyed its largest lead of the game after Walker canned a 3-pointer with 17:43 left to make it 40-17. But the Eagles gradually chipped away at the deficit and pulled to within 13 with 14 minutes to go.

A 9-0 run sent the Rangers' lead back over 20, but the Eagles responded with a 15-4 run of their own to make it 58-46 with 7:53 remaining. Juniata pulled to within single digits (62-53) with 4:43 left and made it a four-point game with 1:12 to go. After a Ranger turnover, Robinson pulled down a big defensive rebound with 21 seconds left before hitting a pair of free throws to give Drew a 66-60 lead.

Ruggery answered with a pair of free throws before Robinson split a trip at the foul line with 14 seconds to go, making it 67-62. Ruggery then drew a foul bringing the ball upcourt and knocked down a pair at the stripe to make it a one-possession game. Gervase followed up by going 1-for-2 at the line to nudge Drew's lead to 68-64 before Ruggery was fouled on a jumper with just one second left. After making the first, his second missed short and was quickly rebounded by Marcus Hall, who kicked it out for Montecalvo's final attempt.

The Rangers return to play on Wednesday, when they visit Catholic in a makeup game starting at 5 p.m.