KINGS POINT, N.Y. - Merchant Marine broke open a close game with a big second half, handing the Drew University men's lacrosse team its first loss of the season with a 17-9 victory Wednesday evening.

The Rangers (3-1), who saw their three-game winning streak come to a close, trailed just 4-3 at the intermission before the Mariners (1-1) put up 15 goals in the second half.

Junior Craig Wilkie posted two goals and one assist for Drew while sophomore Brett Spafford also scored twice. Sophomore Tyler McCarthy paced the defense with four caused turnovers and three ground balls while senior Michael Campenalla III picked up four GBs. Senior Jeremy Gottlieb collected nine saves.

After the hosts scored the opening goal, the Rangers answered with three unanswered on goals from freshman Luke Bruther, Spafford, and Wilkie to go up 3-1 with 6:14 left in the second quarter. But the Mariners scored the next three goals to assume a 4-3 halftime advantage.

Merchant Marine scored the first two goals of the second half before freshman Mike DeMayo scored for Drew at the 11:16 mark of the third quarter, making it 6-4. But that's when the Mariners broke the game open with a 13-2 run. Wilkie scored with 14 seconds left to set the final score.

The Rangers return home on Saturday, when they take on local rival FDU-Florham at 3 p.m. in a non-conference match-up.