MADISON, N.J. – The Moravian College men's basketball team fell to Landmark Conference foe Drew University, 78-54, Wednesday evening.
Freshman guard Mike Klinger put the Rangers on the board first with a three-pointer. Two free throws from junior center Cameron Cullen put the Greyhounds on the board and down 3-2 early. Drew jumped out to an early 7-2 lead, but layups from senior guard Garrett Johnson and junior center Blake English made the score 7-6. A deep three-pointer by English knotted the contest at nine with 14:23 left in the first half.
Senior guard D.J Strayhorn gave the Greyhounds their first lead of the game at 11-10 seven minutes in. Sophomore forward Zach Nolan gave Drew the lead right back with a lay-in. Sophomore forward Chris Capelli then went in for the layup while getting fouled. He converted the free throw for the three-point play. Klinger then hit a jumper for the 17-13 lead with ten minutes remaining in the half.
A jumper from the baseline by English brought the Greyhounds with two at 17-15. After trading scores a three from the corner by junior guard John Ford put Drew up 24-19 with 4:32 left in the first half. Classmate guard Luke Glass added a layup on the next possession for the 26-19 lead.
Moravian then went on a 6-0 run with points from Johnson, Strayhorn and junior guard Kenny Gula to make the score 26-25, Drew with a minutes left in the half. Glass connected on a last second layup to make the halftime score 28-25, Rangers.
Moravian shot 25-percent from the field while Drew shot 38-percent from the field in the half. The Greyhounds held a 21-14 rebounding advantage while the Rangers committed one less turnover. English led Moravian with seven points and three rebounds in the half while Klinger led Drew with nine points.
Cullen started the second half by making a layup while getting fouled. He made the free throw to tie the contest at 28. Glass answered with back-to-back three-pointers for the 34-28 lead two minutes in. Klinger and sophomore guard Steve Hydzik netter baskets to put the Rangers up 39-28. Johnson ended the Rangers 10-0 run with two free throws, but Hydzik answered with a lay-in for the 41-30 lead.
Drew then hit three straight three-pointers by Hydzik and Glass for a 50-30 lead with 13 minutes remaining in the game. Back-to-back layups by sophomore guard Izel Dickerson and freshman forward Matt Bosch made the score 52-34 with 12 minutes left in the game. Scores by Strayhorn and Gula made the score 52-38 with 11 minutes to play in the game.
After exchanged buckets a three-pointer by Ford put the Rangers back up by 20 at 60-40 with 7:29 remaining in the game. A layup and free throw by Johnson made the score 62-45 with six minutes to play in the contest. That would be as close as the Greyhounds got as Drew went onto win 78-54.
Johnson led the way for Moravian with 11 points and eight rebounds. Cullen had nine points and three boards while Strayhorn had seven points and two assists. Gula, Bosch and English all had seven points for the Greyhounds.
Glass led the Rangers with 28 points that included seven three-pointers while Hydzik tallied 14 points and seven assists. Klinger added 11 points while Ford had nine points and four rebounds.
The Greyhounds shot 30-percent from the field while the Rangers shot 54-percent from the field for the game. Moravian held the rebounding advantage at 34-28 while Drew committed four less turnovers.
The Greyhounds return to the court on Saturday, January 12th as they host Landmark Conference rival and nationally-ranked No. 6 The Catholic University of America. The contest is set for 4 p.m.
