SCRANTON, Pa. – The University of Scranton men's basketball team (12-9, 6-5 Landmark) led by one at halftime, but ultimately fell short in a 79-69 loss to the Drew Rangers (14-8, 8-3 Landmark) in Landmark Conference action on Wednesday night at the John Long Center in Scranton.

Drew used a 19-10 run midway through the second half to turn a tie game into a nine point lead and pull away from the Royals.

The Royals are currently tied for the fourth and final playoff spot with Juniata with three regular season games remaining, but the Eagles hold the tiebreaker by virtue of sweeping the season series.

In the first half, the Rangers were able to open up an early lead and a free throw from Howard McBurnie made it a 22-13 game with 10:05 to play in the opening stanza. Scranton battled all the way back with 25 points in the final 10 plus minutes of the half and junior Stephen Braunstein (Colts Neck, N.J./Christian Brothers Academy) hit a jumper in the final minute to open up a 38-35 lead before the Royals took a 38-37 lead into the locker room.

The Royals scored the first four points of the second half and senior Jack Brockett (Shamong, N.J./Seneca) made a jumper of his own to open a 42-37 edge with 18:53 to play, but Drew quickly answered with 11 of the next 12 points and a pair of Malcolm Newman free throws gave the visitors a 48-43 lead for the time being. From there, a Braunstein three and two free throws from sophomore Tahaj Parland (Neptune, N.J./Mater Dei) evened things at 48 at the 14:16 mark of the half. David Gervase regained the lead for the Rangers with a three-point play on the other end and kickstarted the afore-mentioned 19-10 run that was eventually capped by a Gervase three to give the visitors a 67-58 lead with 7:24 remaining. From there, a Parland three and a layup from senior Jackson Danzig (Clarks Green, Pa./Abington Heights) brought the Royals back within four, but that was the closest that they would get over the final 5:50. Newman helped salt away the game for Drew with six straight points in the final 2:28.

Braunstein paced Scranton with 16 points and Parland added 15 of his own, while freshman Will McLoughlin (Glen Rock, N.J./Glen Rock) made his third consecutive start and chipped in with nine points and seven rebounds.

Drew was led by Newman who had a game-high 26 points on 9-of-12 shooting and Gervase who added 21 points on the evening.

The Royals hit the road to take on Elizabethtown in a Landmark Conference matchup on Saturday afternoon with opening tip set for 2 p.m.

--ROYALS--