Box Score

SELINSGROVE, Pa. – An early first-half lead did not hold up for the Susquehanna men's basketball team as the Crusaders fell 69-60 to visiting Drew University on Saturday afternoon.

SU (12-7, 4-4) led by as many as eight points in the first half but was out-scored 42-33 in the second half to ultimately fall by nine.

Harley Sellinger (Mill Hall, Pa./Central Mountain) finished with a double-double with 15 points and a career-high 19 rebounds. Brandon Hedley (Silver Spring, Md./Salisbury Prep) also added 15 points while Jake Eskin (Germantown, Md./Churchill) had 10 points, eight boards and six assists.

While the Susquehanna defense did hold Drew (10-9, 4-4) to a 36.4 field goal percentage, the Crusaders shot only 13 percent (3-of-23) from three-point range and sank only 53 percent of their free throws.

The game certainly started out on a positive note for SU as the team led 14-6 after an Eskin jumper at the 13:32 mark. The Crusaders remained ahead by six, 17-11, on a Tre Dean (Dallas, Texas/Greenhill School) layup four minutes later but Drew pulled within one (23-22) and went ahead 25-23 on a Mike Klinger trey at the 2:14 mark.

The teams traded buckets to end the half and it was knotted at 27 at halftime.

It remained tied (29-29) just over one minute into the second half before the Rangers took a 31-29 lead with 17:43 on the clock. Drew would never again trail in the game as the team quickly built a double-digit lead (50-37) less than midway through the half.

Trailing by 10 (57-47), Matt McGugan's (Silver Spring, Md./Blake) layup with 3:52 to play brought the lead back to single digits for the first time since the 12:54 mark of the half. SU remained down by just six, 59-53, with 1:27 remaining but the Crusaders never pulled any closer as the Rangers sank eight free throws over the final 36 minutes to clinch the win.

Susquehanna is back on the road Wednesday, Feb. 5 to face Goucher at 7 p.m.