MADISON, N.J. – For the second game in a row, the Drew University men's basketball team turned a hot start into a Landmark Conference victory.
 
The Rangers outscored the University of Scranton 10-0 to start the game and never looked back, downing the Royals 70-51 Wednesday evening in Baldwin Gym.
 
Drew (5-2, 3-0 LC), which has now won four games in a row, also bolted to a 60-29 halftime lead en route to a 96-76 win over Goucher College back on Nov. 23.
 
Senior guard Josh Kline scored a game-high 18 points to go with five rebounds and four steals for the Rangers, who led 38-16 at the half in this one.  
 
Four other players reached double figures in scoring for the Blue and Green, including sophomores Eli Yusavage and Matthew Zenker, who netted 11 points apiece. Graduate student James Anderson and senior Malcolm Newman added 10 points each for Drew.
 
Will McLoughlin posted 17 points and 13 rebounds to pace the Royals (3-3, 1-2 LC).
 
After Drew's quick start, Scranton scored the next six points and trailed just 13-8 with 12:09 left in the opening half. But that's when the Rangers used a 12-2 run to open up a 25-10 lead with 7:35 remaining in the period.
 
Neither side scored again for over two minutes, but when the scoring resumed it did so in a big way for Drew. The Rangers outscored Scranton 13-4 over a 4:35 stretch as their lead ballooned to 38-14 with just under a minute to play.
 
Drew equaled its largest advantage of the game three times early in the second half, the last coming at 48-24 with 14:58 remaining. The Royals did not go away, however, and crept within 14 (61-47) with 2:57 left. But that's as close as they could get, and Zenker punctuated the victory with a soaring fastbreak, and-1 dunk that brought the crowd to its feet with 2:03 to go.
 
The Rangers are back in action on Saturday, when they visit Lycoming College at 4 p.m. in a Landmark Conference outing.