MADISON, N.J. – Elizabethtown College scored 53 points in the second half and the Blue Jays handed the Rangers an 88-82 setback in Landmark Conference men's basketball action Wednesday evening in Baldwin Gym.
 
The Blue Jays, who trailed by as much as 10 in the first half, rallied to shoot 59.3% from the field in the second period and 52.3% for the game.
 
Junior guard Papie Roberts scored 19 points for the Rangers (13-3, 6-2) while senior guard Andrew Turco added 16 points on 4-of-6 shooting from beyond the arc. Sophomore forward Kevin Cronin posted 11 points and a career-high eight rebounds, and junior guard Josh Kline chipped in with 10 points. Junior guard Pat Higgins added nine points and a career-high eight assists.
 
Ben Stanton scored 19 points off the bench to lead the Blue Jays (6-10, 3-6), who topped the Rangers for the first time since Jan. 14, 2015.

Despite the loss, the Rangers became just the fifth team in program history to open a season 13-3, joining the 1943-44, 1979-80, 2018-19, and 2019-20 teams.
 
It was a close game in the early going before Drew opened up its 10-point lead following a 9-1 run midway through the stanza. Junior forward Peso Crump kicked off the surge with a jumper before Roberts made good on a conventional 3-point play. Turco followed with a triple before a lay-up from Kline made it 23-13 with 9:38 remaining in the opening half.
 
A 3-pointer from Kline gave the Rangers a 28-19 lead with 5:39 on the clock, but that's when Elizabethtown climbed back into it with a 12-1 run to assume a 31-29 lead with 2:43 remaining.
 
The hosts reclaimed the lead with a 10-2 run, capped by a 3-ball from Turco, to go up 39-33 with 58 ticks showing.  The Blue Jays scored the last bucket of the half and trailed just 39-35 at the intermission.
 
The nip-and-tuck affair continued into the second half, which featured five ties and four lead changes. Neither side led by more than five until the Blue Jays went up 76-70 with 3:56 left. But Cronin nailed a big 3-pointer from the right corner to make it a three-point game with 3:15 to go. Etown scored the next five points, however, and enjoyed its largest lead of the night (80-73) with 1:38 to go.
 
Roberts drove in for a lay-up to cut the deficit to five with 1:31 left, but the Blue Jays came up big at the foul line down the stretch, going 6-for-6 at the stripe. A trey from Kline made it 84-80 with 38 seconds to go, but Alon Gorham hit a pair of big free throws for the Blue Jays to push the lead back to six. Roberts dropped in another lay-in with 27 seconds remaining, but Etown's Rance Russo set the final score when he went 2-for-2 at the line with 25 seconds to go, and Drew missed on its last three field-goal attempts.
 
The Rangers return to Landmark Conference action on Saturday, when they host Goucher College at 2 p.m.