Rangers Pin Second 2014-15 Setback on Gophers

MADISON, N.J. — Goucher bowed to Drew for the second time in 2014-15 and just as he did back on Dec. 6 in the first meeting, Mike Klinger contributed 25 points to today's 76-59 victory by the Rangers.

Klinger, who accounted for eight of the 19 points Drew scored during the five-minute overtime period which produced the earlier 90-83 win in the Decker Sports & Recreation Center, was 9-for-14 from the field today, including 3-for-6 on 3-point attempts, and made all four of his free throws. The junior guard remains the leading scorer in the Landmark Conference this season at 19.6 points per contest.

Klinger opened the scoring by connecting on his first 3-point attempt just over a minute into today's game. It would be his only points during a 13-2 run by the Rangers (10-8, 5-4 Landmark) over the opening 5:42. Before Alex Noble (Clinton, Md./Surrattsville) landed a 3-pointer of his own to make the score 13-5, a layup by Tre Galloway III (Silver Spring, Md./Paint Branch) was the Gophers' only made basket in their first 10 field-goal attempts.

Goucher fell behind by 20 points for the first time on a made 3-pointer by Kevin Herring II with 1:36 remaining in the first half. Herring nailed another 3-pointer before the period ended to give Drew a commanding 40-18 advantage after 20 minutes.

The Gophers (3-15, 2-7 Landmark) used a run of nine consecutive points to knock a 19-point deficit down to 64-54 with 3:07 left to play. They even narrowed the gap with 1:39 showing on the clock to 66-57 on a made 3-point basket by Tucker Canary (Silver Spring, Md./Montgomery Blair).

Each team had three double-digit scorers. For Drew, they were Klinger, Herring with 17 and Kevin-Michael Miller with 13. Kevin Miles (District Heights, Md./Gwynn Park) captured scoring honors for Goucher with a 15-point performance; Canary and Chris Outing (New Windsor, N.Y./James I. O'Neill) added 11 and 10 points, respectively.

Although Noble was the game's leading rebounder with 11, Drew owned a significant edge on the boards, 44-31.

One of Goucher's two Landmark wins this season was a 58-53 triumph over Juniata back on January 6. The Gophers will get another crack at the Eagles on Wednesday when they travel to Huntingdon, Pa. for a game scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.