MADISON, N.J. – Junior guard
Andre De Los Reyes scored a career-high 32 points and the Drew University men's basketball team rallied from an 11-point second-half deficit to beat Rowan University 95-92 in a non-conference men's basketball tilt Saturday afternoon in Baldwin Gym.
The Rangers, who withstood a late comeback from Rowan, improved to 3-0 overall and at home this season and have now won 16 consecutive games in Baldwin Gym dating back to last year's home opener on Nov. 16 versus York (NY.) College.
De Los Reyes posted the most points by a Ranger since Howard McBurnie Jr. C'23 dropped 34 in a double-overtime loss to Catholic University on Jan. 21, 2023, and the highest scoring output in a regulation game since Riley Collins C'20 netted 35 in a victory over Catholic on Feb. 16, 2019. De Los Reyes shot 12-for-22 from the field and knocked down five 3-pointers while adding four rebounds, four assists, and five steals for good measure.
Junior guard
Charlie Thornton added a season-high 18 points for the Rangers while senior forward
David Musial posted a double-double of 16 points and 11 rebounds to go with five assists. Sophomore forward
Ben Manns contributed 12 points and eight rebounds.
Brycen Williams scored 27 points to lead the Profs (0-3), who shot 92.0% (23-for-25) at the foul line.
Rowan led 72-61 with 11:39 remaining for Drew set out on its comeback. Manns kicked it off when he dropped in a layup off a feed from
David Musial, and De Los Reyes cut it to seven with a steal and bucket. After the Profs bumped the lead back to nine, the Rangers ran off six straight points to reduce the deficit to three, getting a jumper from senior guard
Devon Musial, a pair of free throws from
David Musial, and another lay-in from De Los Reyes that made it 74-71 with 8:45 remaining.
The visitors nudged their advantage back to eight, but the Rangers would not go away. A Michael Pirone lay-up put Rowan up 79-71 with 7:48 to go, but that's when Drew exploded for a 19-4 run to go up by seven with 4:00 left. De Los Reyes scored 13 points over the surge, including a pair of and-1 layups and a 3-pointer with 5:10 remaining that put Drew in front for good.
A bucket from Manns put Drew up 94-87 with 1:29 left, but Williams made it a one-possession game (95-92) after a pair of baskets, including a 3-pointer with 55 ticks showing. Rowan came up with a steal at the other and called timeout with 21 seconds on the clock, but Williams missed a potential game-tying 3-pointer that was well-defended by
Devon Musial. Drew was able to kill the final seconds on a baseball pass that was hauled in by Thornton.
The Rangers started the game hot, outscoring Rowan 12-2 out of the gates. Drew enjoyed its largest lead of the game when graduate student
Jack Garside hit a free throw that made it 18-6, and a bucket from
Devon Musial made it 21-10 before the Profs rallied to tie it midway through the half.
David Musial sunk a pair of free throws with five seconds left in the period to give the Blue and Green a 47-44 lead at the intermission.
Rowan took its first lead (51-50) on a pair of foul shots from Baker with 17:45 left before eventually building its 11-point advantage, setting up Drew's rally.
The Rangers are back in action on Wednesday, when they visit the University of Scranton at 7 p.m. in their Landmark Conference opener.