On the back of a 45 point second half outburst, the Drew Rangers rallied from 17 points down to top Union (N.Y.) College, 70-66, in the opening match of the 2005 Amerisport International Land of Magic Classic. The Rangers shot 56% from the floor in the second half, 6-10 from three-point range, while holding the Dutchman to just 25 points to up-end a 40-25 half time deficit. Drew improves to 4-5 on the season with the upset of Union, 5-3, a team that had been receiving Top 25 votes in D3Hoops.com’s poll. The Dutchmen led by as many as 17 points with 11:34 remaining in the first half.
Chris Lopez led Drew with 16 points, one of four Rangers in double figures, and grabbed four rebounds. Gerard Mullin and Bob Carella scored 13 and 11, respectively, and both went 2-4 from behind the arc. The Rangers showed off their long-range touch by hitting on 8-18 in the game. Forward Sam Taub led the way on the inside with 12 points and six boards. Production from the bench was a key to the victory as the Ranger reserves outscored the Dutchmen’s, 16-9. David Cramer led the way with eight points and three assists while Abdul Jalloh gave Drew 10 quality minutes with four points, a rebound and a steal.
Union was led by Brian Scordato’s 20 points and 10 rebounds while John Cagianello added 17.
The Rangers will face Hiram (Ohio) tomorrow at 11 a.m. Hiram defeated St. Olaf’s 91-88 in the opening round today. Union will face Nichols at 3 p.m.
DREW 70. Lopez 1-3-5-16, DiLorenzo 1-0-0-2, Mullin 3-2-1-13, Carella 2-2-1-11, Taub 5-0-2-12, Marano 0-0-0-0, Natoli 0-0-0-0, Eisner 1-0-0-2, Amalfie 0-0-2-2, Miller 0-0-0-0, Codey 0-0-0-0, Cramer 1-1-3-8, Pepperman 0-0-0-0, Jalloh 2-0-0-4 Assists: DiLorenzo, Carella, Cramer 3. Rebounds: Taub 6. Blocks: Cramer, DiLorenzo 1. Steals: Lopez, Carella 2 TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 10-23 43.5% 2nd Half: 14-25 56.0% Game: 50.0% 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 2-8 25.0% 2nd Half: 6-10 60.0% Game: 44.4% F Throw % 1st Half: 3-5 60.0% 2nd Half: 11-15 73.3% Game: 70.0% ----------------------------------------------------------------------- UNION (N.Y.) 66. Rahill 2-0-1-5, Scorato 4-4-0-20, Cagianello 3-3-2-17, Murphy 1-1-0-3, Bonner 3-0-4-10, Clancy 1-0-0-1, Futia 0-0-0-0, Desmarais 0-0-1-1, McAllister 0-0-0-0, Mackey 2-0-0-4, Grimm 1-0-0-2, Groark 0-0-0-0 TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 17-33 51.5% 2nd Half: 8-23 34.8% Game: 44.6% 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 4-12 33.3% 2nd Half: 4-14 28.6% Game: 30.8% F Throw % 1st Half: 2-3 66.7% 2nd Half: 6-8 75.0% Game: 72.7%