PHILADELPHIA, PA – The Palestra, aka "The Cathedral of College Basketball", served as the backdrop of two of the Landmark Conference's top three men's basketball teams in Susquehanna and Drew Sunday evening. Head coach Frank Marcinek instituted a quicker starting lineup to match Drew's swiftness, including Marcus Mitchell who was one of several River Hawks who turned in "landmark" performances with 21 points as the River Hawks defeated Drew, 83-78. Susquehanna moves to 8-1 in league play and 10-5 overall, as well as posting its eighth straight win over the Rangers (13-2, 6-2 Landmark).

Ahead 37-34 at halftime, Susquehanna began the second half red hot, going on a stretch where they outscored Drew 19-6 as they bumped their lead to 66-51 with 9:02 remaining. But any chance of a comfortable win ended at that point as the Rangers worked SU's lead down to eight, followed by an 8-0 run within the final three-and-a-half minutes to tie the game at 76-76 with 1:29 to go. After a 30-second timeout from Coach Marcinek, the River Hawks tilted the game back in their favor, beginning with a made jumper from Mitchell to go over the 20-point mark on the night. The defense succeeded in shutting down Drew on the ensuing possession after a missed three, with Steven Ressler getting the ball and being sent to the line on a double bonus, making both for a four-point lead with under 30 seconds left. The defense prevented Drew from a made field goal the rest of the way.

Mitchell finished the contest with 7-of-13 made from the floor and connecting on 7-of-8 free throws in 36 minutes of action. He added six boards and four assists with a pair of steals to his stat column. The game also featured a highlight performance from Billy Anderson, as the 6-foot-8-inch center rose above Drew with 18 points and seven rebounds, shooting 7-of-9 from the field and making 4-of-5 free throws. Michael Pirone, who has seen considerable playing time as of late, broke through with 16 points on a perfect 4-for-4 shooting from the floor with 7-of-8 free throws made and one 3-pointer. Brandon Lavitt netted his second double-double of the season and fifth of his career with a 10-10 showing on points and rebounds.

The performances of Anderson and Pirone spearheaded a unit that outscored Drew 34-17 in bench points. The River Hawks also led 50-42 in points in the paint and a 17-11 lead in points off turnovers after forcing the Rangers to turn the ball over nine times. Susquehanna finished shooting 50.9 percent (28-of-55) to Drew's 46.2 percent (30-of-65), while making 3-of-9 threes and 24-of-28 free throws to the Rangers' respective 7-of-22 and 11-of-14.

Sunday's victory ended a busy week for Susquehanna, who hosted Landmark games Tuesday and Friday, splitting with Lycoming and Wilkes. They have one more stop before closing out the opening leg of their Landmark Conference season at Juniata on Wednesday at 7 p.m. in a rematch of last year's Landmark Conference Semifinals.