MADISON, N.J. – The Drew University men's basketball team cut a 14-point deficit down to three, but Stockton University pulled away down the stretch for an 84-74 victory in the Rangers' home opener Wednesday evening at a boisterous Baldwin Gym.
Drew (2-1) received a game-high 16 points from senior guard
Charlie Thornton, who shot 4-for-8 from 3-point range and also grabbed five rebounds. Sophomore guard
Erik Porch tied a career-high with 12 points and handed out a career-best four assists while shooting 9-for-11 at the foul line, and freshman guard
Dylan Napoleon also scored 12 points while posting three steals. Senior guard
Andre De Los Reyes contributed 10 points, and junior forward
Ben Manns posted nine points, seven rebounds, five assists, three steals, and three blocked shots.
Eriq Campbell, Andrew Crawford, and Justin Harper scored 15 points apiece for the Ospreys, who were playing their season opener.
It was a back-and-forth game in the early going before Stockton used a 15-3 run to assume a 39-25 lead with 2:31 left in the opening period. However, the Rangers ended the stanza on a 7-0 run to cut the deficit in half at 39-32.
Drew continued its run into the second period, when De Los Reyes and Thornton each connected on a 3-pointer to make it a 41-38 game just over a minute into the half. But Stockton responded with a 9-0 run to push its advantage back to 12.
The Ospreys eventually nudged their lead back to 14, but the Rangers would not go away. A 9-2 run, which included a four-point play from junior guard
Ben Kipnis, made it 57-49 with 12:48 remaining. Another Kipnis free throw pulled Drew to within six with 11:32 left; however, that's as close as the Rangers were able to get until the closing minutes, when they used a late push to cut a 12-point gap down to six. Thornton nailed back-to-back triples to make it 80-74 with 1:54 remaining, but Stockton hit a pair of free throws on its next possession before coming up with a turnover and layup that set the final score with 1:19 left.
The Rangers are back in action on Saturday, when they visit Baruch College in a non-conference outing starting at 1 p.m.
