MADISON, N.J. – The Drew University men's basketball team pulled away late and defeated Susquehanna University 94-82 in its regular-season finale on Saturday in Baldwin Gym.
 
With their victory, the Rangers (20-5, 13-5 LC) clinched the No. 2 seed and a first-round bye in next week's Landmark Conference Championship tournament. They will now host a tournament semifinal game on Thursday at 7 p.m., facing the winner of the first-round game between No. 3 Susquehanna and No. 6 Goucher.
 
Junior guard Pat Higgins and senior guard Andrew Turco combined for 47 points to lead the Rangers, who became the third team in program history to reach 20 wins, joining the 2018-19 and 2019-20 squads. Higgins came off the bench to post 24 points and six assists while Turco pumped in 23 points. Junior forward Peso Crump and junior guard Josh Kline scored 10 points apiece while sophomore forward David Musial registered nine points and eight rebounds.
 
Drew shot 59.0% from the field, marking its second-best shooting performance of the season.
 
Mike Pirone scored 21 points to lead the River Hawks (15-10, 12-6 LC).
 
In a matchup between two teams that were tied for second place in the Landmark Conference standings entering the day, the Rangers led for all but 11 seconds of the game. Drew led by as much as 10 on two occasions in the opening half, the last coming with 8:18 left following a lay-up from Crump. However, Susquehanna chipped away at the deficit and trailed by only three before the Rangers hit a big shot at the buzzer. Musial tracked down an offensive rebound on the right wing and quickly passed it to Turco, who drained a 3-pointer from the right corner to put Drew up 46-40 at the half.
 
The Rangers pushed their lead back into double digits just over two minutes into the second half on a conventional 3-point play from Turco. But Susquehanna kept it close and trailed just 71-65 with 8:34 left. However, that's when Drew erupted for an 11-0 run that broke it open. Kline split a pair of free throws to kick off the run before a steal and layup from Turco made it 74-65. Higgins then scored five straight points before Kline took a cross-court pass from Higgins and drained a triple from the right elbow, putting the Rangers up 82-65 with 5:24 left and prompting a Susquehanna timeout.
 
The River Hawks rallied in the final minutes, but were unable to reduce the deficit under 10.