WASHINGTON, DC – The Drew University men's basketball team erased an 11-point second-half deficit, but Catholic University pulled away down the stretch to hand the Rangers an 81-76 setback in a Landmark Conference matchup and Drew's season finale on Saturday.

Senior forward Howard McBurnie, Jr. capped an outstanding career with 23 points, eight rebounds, five blocked shots, and four assists. He finishes his career ranked fourth in school history in rebounds (841), 15th in scoring (1,052 points), and ninth in blocked shots (92).
 
Senior forward Michael Kane added 13 points for Drew (13-12, 5-9 LC) while sophomore guard Papie Roberts and junior guard Andrew Turco added 12 and 11 points, respectively. Freshman forward David Musial contributed nine points and nine rebounds.

Jesse Hafemeister paced the way for the Cardinals (22-3, 11-3 LC) with 24 points and eight rebounds. Tommy Kelly added 19 points, six rebounds, and four assists, while Sean Neylon scored 15 points.

The first half was a back-and-forth battle as both teams traded baskets through the first 15 minutes. Drew took the largest lead in the first half at 31-25 after a layup from Roberts; however, the Cardinals took the lead after a Neylon triple with 35 seconds left that gave Catholic the 35-33 lead going into halftime.

Neylon hit another 3 coming out of the half, and the hosts eventually led 47-36 after a trey from Hafemeister with 16:44 to left. However, the Rangers rallied yet against Catholic, and wiping out a 25-point second-half deficit in a double-overtime loss back in January.
 
The Cardinals still held a double-digit lead (54-44) with 14:21 remaining, but the Rangers came roaring back with an 8-1 run, capped by a 3-pointer from Kane to make it a 55-52 game. McBurnie would tie the game twice, the last coming at the 9:37 mark, before Catholic pushed its lead back to up to nine. However, that's when Turco got hot, draining three straight 3-pointers to tie the game at 70-all with 2:54 left.
 
McBurnie made it a one-point game (75-74) when he knocked down a 3-pointer with 1:02 to go, but that's as close as the Rangers would get. Roberts split a trip to the foul line with 17 seconds left, and after a turnover Drew had the chance to tie the game. But Roberts missed a 3-poniter and Hafemeister rebounded before setting the final score with a pair of foul shots.