ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. – The Drew University men's basketball team opened the second half on a 12-0 run, breaking open a tie game en route to an 80-74 Landmark Conference victory at Elizabethtown College Wednesday evening.
 
The win, coupled with Juniata's 51-50 victory over Susquehanna, places the Rangers (19-5, 12-5 LC) in a tie for second place in the Landmark Conference standings with Susquehanna. Drew can clinch the No. 2 seed and a first-round bye in the Landmark Conference playoffs with a victory over Susquehanna in its regular-season finale on Saturday at 2 p.m. in Baldwin Gym.
 
Nine different Rangers figured into the scoring column, with junior forward Peso Crump leading the way with 13 points to go with season-highs of 11 rebounds and four blocked shots. Senior guard Andrew Turco added points while shooting 7-for-7 at the foul line, and junior guards Papie Roberts and Pat Higgins chipped in with 11 and 10 points, respectively. Junior guard Josh Kline contributed nine points and seven rebounds for Drew, which finished 10-0 in road games for the regular season.
 
Austin Finarelli and Rance Russo scored 20 points apiece to lead the Blue Jays (9-15, 6-11 LC).
 
The Rangers bolted to a 21-11 lead midway through the opening half, but Elizabethtown came all the way back to take the lead in the closing minutes of the period. A jumper from Kline put Drew up 39-37 with 37 seconds left, but Alon Gorham dropped in a layup in the closing seconds to knot the score at 39-39 at the intermission.
 
Drew wasted little time pulling away in the second half with their decisive run. Crump scored five points during the stretch, and a layup from sophomore forward Kevin Cronin made it 51-39 with 14:29 remaining.
 
The Blue Jays stopped the bleeding with a Russo 3-pointer, but Cronin answered with four straight points before sophomore guard Devon Musial made a pair of big buckets. He converted a lay-in to make it 57-42, then drained a triple to push Drew's advantage to 60-44 with 10:42 left.
 
The Rangers enjoyed their largest lead of the night at 66-49 after Crump knocked down a 3-ball with 7:13 showing. Roberts nailed a big jumper to put his team up 68-55 with 3:05 left, and Drew salted away the victory at the foul line. The Rangers finished 8-for-10 at the stripe in the final 1:05 to thwart a late scoring spree from Etown, which netted 12 points in the final minute.