MADISON, N.J. – Senior guard Malcolm Newman drained a 3-pointer from the left corner with 4.2 seconds left and for the third game in a row, the Drew University men's basketball team put up a big rally to earn an 84-82 victory over Wilkes University in a key Landmark Conference showdown Wednesday evening in Baldwin Gym.
 
With the win, the Rangers moved to 7-0 in Landmark Conference play for the first time in team history while improving to 11-3 overall and 6-0 at home.
 
Trailing by a point, senior guard Pat Higgins drove to the left elbow of the 3-point line before finding Newman, who knocked down a contested shot for Drew's only lead of the night.
 
The Rangers trailed by as much as 16 in the first half and by 10 at halftime before outscoring the Colonels 50-38 in the second half, when they shot 47.8% (11-for-23) from 3-point range.
 
Drew also rallied from 11 points down in a victory over Susquehanna one week ago and erased a 16-point deficit in its 76-71 overtime win at No. 21 Catholic this past Saturday.
 
Senior guard Josh Kline posted 20 points and a career-high four blocked shots for the Rangers while Newman finished with a season-high 19 points to go with three steals. Both players shot 4-for-7 from 3-point territory.
 
Higgins contributed his first career double-double with 13 points and a career-best 10 assists, the most by a Ranger since Riley Collins C'20 also handed out 10 in a victory at Elizabethtown on Feb. 15, 2020. Junior forward David Musial led all players with a season-high 12 rebounds.
 
Lucas Lesko paced the Colonels (11-3, 5-2 LC), who entered the night just one game behind Drew for the conference lead, with 25 points while Eli Becker scored 21 points for the visitors.
 
The Rangers trailed by as much as 15 in the second half, including at 61-46 with 12:12 remaining. However, that's when the hosts dialed long distance, draining 10 3-pointers down the stretch and scoring 30 of their final 38 points from beyond the arc.
 
Senior forward Peso Crump started the comeback with a triple at the 11:56 mark before Musial and Kline followed suit to bring the Rangers to within single digits (63-55) with 11:07 remaining.
 
Wilkes went back up by 10 with 9:20 to go, and after a pair of Newman free throws, the Rangers put together an aerial assault in which they scored their next 21 points on 3-pointers. Crump started the barrage with another 3-ball before Newman sandwiched a pair of 3-pointers around a trey from sophomore forward Matthew Zenker to make it a four-point game (75-71) with 5:20 to go.
 
Kline and Higgins followed up with back-to-back 3s as the Rangers nudged to within three (80-77) with 2:55 remaining. The Colonels went ahead 82-77 on a pair of free throws with 2:00 left, but those would out to be the team's final points of the night.
 
The Rangers opened their game-ending run with a four-shot possession in which they hauled in three offensive rebounds. Musial finished it off with a dunk on a pretty feed from Crump to make it 82-79.
 
At the other end, Kline stepped in front of a Wilkes pass and took it coast-to-coast for a layup, drawing the Rangers to within a point with 39 seconds left. The Colonels were then whistled for a five-second call on the inbound before the Rangers came up big on the offensive glass once again, as Musial corralled a Drew missed shot. Drew then called timeout before Newman's heroics.
 
Wilkes managed to push the ball upcourt in the final seconds, but Cayden Merrifield's 3-pointer fell short at the buzzer.
 
The Colonels opened the game on a 17-8 run before eventually going up by 10 (23-13) with 12:31 on the clock. A 7-0 Wilkes run gave the visitors their first 16-point lead (30-14), which they equaled twice more before the Rangers ended the period on a Newman 3-pointer with 59 seconds left to make it a 44-34 game at the intermission.
 
Drew briefly pulled to within eight early in the second half before a 6-0 Wilkes run put the Colonels up 14, setting up the hosts' latest comeback.
 
The Rangers continue their season on Saturday, when they host Juniata College at 4 p.m. in another Landmark Conference affair.