MADISON, N.J. – The Drew University men's basketball team nearly erased a 12-point second-half deficit, but Catholic University held off the Rangers by a score of 61-58 on Saturday in Baldwin Gym.
 
The Rangers held their Senior Day prior to the game for its four seniors – Jack Garside, Kevin Cronin, David Musial, and Devon Musial - were honored in a ceremony before the game.
 
Despite the loss, Drew (17-6, 11-5 LC) clinched its third consecutive appearance in the Landmark Conference Championship tournament due to results from other conference games on Saturday. The Rangers are now in third place in the Landmark Conference standings with two regular-season games left.
 
Forward David Musial scored a game-high 12 points while posting five rebounds, four assists, and three steals for the Rangers, who started all four seniors. Sophomore forward Ben Manns posted 12 points and eight rebounds while junior guard Charlie Thornton contributed 11 points.
 
CJ Ruoff posted 25 points and nine rebounds to lead Catholic (17-6, 13-3 LC), which, along with Drew, was receiving votes in the latest D3hoops.com Top 25.
 
The Cardinals led 52-40 with 8:27 remaining before Drew embarked on its rally. David Musial canned a 3-pointer to make it a seven-point game with 7:34 left and Manns connected from downtown just over a minute later to cut it to six.
 
David Musial pulled Drew to within three (54-51) when he converted an old-fashioned 3-point play on his own put-back with 5:22 remaining. But the Cardinals pushed their lead back to seven on a Ruoff lay-up with 1:21 to go before Thornton drained a triple from right wing to make it 59-55.
 
Ruoff hit two more free throws before Thornton splashed in another trey with 29 seconds left to make it a one-possession game. Drew then forced a turnover with its full-court press, as David Musial knocked down a pass near midcourt that was recovered by Thornton.
 
The Rangers committed a turnover and were forced to foul, but Charley Hepting missed two free throws for Catholic. Drew had a chance to tie it at the buzzer but a 3-pointer from junior guard Eli Yusavage was off the mark.
 
The Rangers were hot in the early going and outscored Catholic 10-2 to start the game. The Cardinals came back to take the lead with 7:10 left in the opening half and pushed its lead to 11 with 2:46 left in the stanza. But Drew scored the last six points of the half to make it a five-point game at the break. Manns scored all six points of the stretch, in which he went 4-for-4 at the foul line.
 
Drew pulled to within five on a Thornton layup with 16:43 and cut the gap to four on multiple occasions before Catholic used a run midway through the half to open up its 12-point lead.
 
The Rangers play their final regular-season home game on Wednesday, when they take on Moravian University at 7 p.m.