MADISON, NJ - Susquehanna men's basketball turned in one of their finest first halfs of the season in their attempt to dethrone one-seed and 25th-ranked Drew Thursday night in the Landmark Semifinals. The River Hawks shot 65.6 percent in the first 20 minutes to pace Drew, with the home team leading just 51-50 at halftime. The Rangers opened with a three to start the second half, leading to a 13-1 opening run as Drew rolled to a 97-81 victory to advance to Saturday's Landmark Championship, where they will host Catholic.

Both sides exchanged leads in the early going as Susquehanna made 21-of-32 shots to start, including 6-of-12 from 3-point range, while Drew shot 20-of-36 and making 8-of-15 three-point tries. Cooper Haberern lead the 3-point expedition for the River Hawks with five for 19 points on the night, while Emezie Egeonu connected for 16 points with eight rebounds. Michael Pirone also connected on 2-of-4 three-point attempts towards 15 points, while Billy Anderson gathered 13 points with six rebounds, while Brandon Lavitt was Susquehanna's fifth double-digit scorer with ten points and six assists. 

Though each side opened the game off hot, Drew's early second-half run nearly went unanswered as the Rangers led 64-51 through barely the first two minutes of the half and then 70-53 with just under 14 minutes remaining. Susquehanna got a spark on back-to-back 3-pointers from Jackson Van Wagener and Haberern to make it 70-59, but Drew kept the ship steady despite more threes coming from Pirone and Haberern. When the River Hawks pressed on and cut Drew's lead to double figures at 82-73, the Rangers' shooting efficiency kept the game in their favor down the stretch. Peso Crump led all scorers with 21 points for Drew, making 9-of-12 from the floor and 3-of-4 on threes. Josh Kline finished with 16 points and 12 assists, while three more Rangers each had 12 points from Pat Higgins, David Musial, and Malcolm Newman. 

At game's end the River Hawks shot 50.9 percent on 29-of-57 shooting after making 8-of-25 in the second half and 4-of-12 on threes. The Rangers, meanwhile, actually improved from the first-half shooting in the second they finished at 56.5 percent, making 39-of-69 total and connecting on 12-of-28 three attempts and 7-of-15 from the free throw line. Susquehanna's final tally from behind the arc and the charity stripe were a respective 10-of-24 and 13-of-19. 

Under head coach Frank Marcinek, Susquehanna completed another noteworthy season where they weathered highs and lows that earned them the fourth seed in the Landmark Tournament. With a deep bench, Susquehanna moved around its starting five and utilized its depth to shake things up and catch the opposition off balance, leading to a five-game win streak in a key part on January to get them near the top of the Landmark standings. They perhaps saved their best basketball for Tuesday's Landmark Quarterfinals match against Moravian in a 100-90 overtime win where they outscored the Greyhounds in the deciding frame, 18-8. 

Haberern's 3-point shooting put him at fifth all-time with 79 made threes this season on 194 attempts, a 40.7 average. His 176 made three are also fifth. Anderson finished his junior season with 817 career points in a bid for the 1,000 points club going into his senior season as he lead the team in scoring with 14.9 points per game. Lavitt led Susquehanna in rebounding averaging 6.2 per game, while also nearing the 1,000-point mark with 896 through three seasons.