Gophers Do Damage to Rangers' Playoff Seeding

Lindsay Replaces Durkovic as All-Time Leader in Blocked Shots

TOWSON, Md. — With all four spots in the Landmark Conference playoffs already spoken for, Goucher could only influence seeding when it hosted Drew tonight. By scoring the final seven points of the game, head coach Leonard Trevino's Gophers pulled out a 63-56 victory that dropped the Rangers into a three-way tie with Catholic and the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy for second place.

A basket by Drew's Asmar Capers with 1:16 left to play created a 56-56 tie, but on Goucher's subsequent possession, Donte Brandon (Washington, D.C./Westlake) found Shane Yambor (Burtonsville, Md./Paint Branch) on the wing with a deep pass from and Yambor knocked down a 12-foot jumper to put the Gophers (6-14, 4-9 Landmark) up by two. A steal by Kyle Gladden (Baltimore, Md./Lansdowne) forced the Rangers (13-11, 8-5 Landmark) to foul and Brandon's two made free throws extended the lead to four points.

With :22 showing on the clock, Trae Lindsay (Baltimore, Md./Patapsco) blocked a shot attempt by Capers and was fouled after grabbing the rebound. He made the second of his two tries, putting the Gophers up 61-56. Two free throws by Colby Giacubeno (Baltimore, Md./Perry Hall) following another miss by Capers closed out the scoring.

Capers, who entered the game as the leading scorer in the Landmark Conference at 22.5 points per game, was held to 11 points. He was 3-for-17 from the field and missed all nine of the 3-pointers he got off.

Lindsay was credited with four blocks in the game, the second of which allowed the sophomore post player to pass Predrag Durkovic (1993-97) and become Goucher's all-time leader with 76 blocks.

Lindsay also contributed a double-double of 15 points and a game-high 13 rebounds to the victory, which evens the all-time series between the two schools at 4-4.

The leading scorer for Goucher was Marcus Cotton (Silver Spring, Md./Springbrook), who furnished the Gophers with 17 points. Giacubeno added 15 points.

Dara McKeon and Dylan Bulger shared scoring honors for the visiting Rangers with 13 points apiece.

The lead changed hands 10 times in the opening half, which ended with the Gophers up 30-29.

Goucher took its biggest lead of the contest on a tip-in by Linday that made the score 49-41 with 7:12 left to play, but the Rangers responded with a run of 11 straight points and went back in front, 50-49, on Bulger's conventional three-point with exactly 5:00 remaining.