Goucher Men's Basketball Puts Scare Into Defending Landmark Conference Regular Season Champs In 64-59 Loss

BALTIMORE, Md. – In an exciting Landmark Conference battle, Goucher College twice had the chance to take the lead in the final five minutes and 39 seconds and also had a chance to tie the game in the final minute of the game against the defending regular season champions. Despite the excitement in front of the Decker Sports and Recreation faithful, Drew University escaped with a 64-59 win in men's basketball action on Saturday.

Darrell Collins (Baltimore, Md./Newtown) capped a 17-10 Goucher run with floater at 5:39 to tie the game at 52. After a Ranger turnover, the Gophers had the chance to take its first lead since the 13:24 mark of the first half, but a turnover allowed Drew to retake the advantage. After the Rangers took a 59-54 edge with 2:52 on the clock, Dwayne Morton (Baltimore, Md./Waynesville [Mo.]) converted two free throws at 1:56 and Collins came up big again with a triple from right corner with 87 seconds on the clock to tie the game at 59.

Pat Goralski (Pasadena, Md./Chesapeake) hauled in a huge defensive rebound to give the home team another chance to take the lead, but Morton missed a layup with 42 ticks left and the Rangers came up with the defensive rebound. Drew then took the lead for good on a trey with 23 seconds remaining while Morton missed a chance to tie the game in waning seconds of the game and two Ranger free throws sealed the win for the visitors.

Goralski paced Goucher with 14 points and 10 rebounds. He made four baskets on the floor while he did most of damage at the foul line after connecting on 6 of 9 on the afternoon. Goralski now has three double-doubles in 2019-20 and five in his career. The senior, who has two double-doubles in his last three games, has seven double-figure point games this season and 18 in his career.

Cam Isaacs (Randallstown, Md./Randallstown) narrowly missed his first career double-double after finishing with nine points and a career-high 10 boards along with five assists. Despite missing his seventh-straight 10-point game by one point, the sophomore eclipsed his rebound total after never hauling in more than six caroms in a single game before his 10 against Drew. Isaacs matched his career best for assists after posting four games with five helpers as a freshman while he has four games with at least five rebounds in 2019-20.

Goucher hung tough with the Rangers in the first half. After trailing 5-0, Isaacs hit a jumper and Mal Graham (Grasonville, Md./Kent Island) nailed a 3-ball to tie the game at 5 at 16:34. Drew hit the next basket only to see Timmy O'Farrell (Davidsonville, Md./Archbishop Spalding) nailed a triple at 14:31 to give the Gophers an 8-7 edge. The Rangers tied the game at 8 only to see Isaacs hit a jumper at 13:24 for a 10-8 lead.

The visitors then went on a 10-2 lead to grab an 18-12 advantage with 8:29 on the clock. O'Farrell cut the deficit to 27-25 with 3:32 left, but Drew scored nine of the final 13 points to take a 36-29 advantage going into the locker room. 

In the second half with the Rangers holding a 40-32 lead with 15:27 on the clock, Goralski powered a 20-12 run with six points while Morton and O'Farrell both hit a basket from behind the arc. Morton's shot might have come from Goucher benchside at Beldon Field, but Collins tied the game at 52.

Collins, who had a jumper in the 20-12 run, then tied the game at 59 with a big trey with 1:27 left, but Drew scored the final five points to come away with the victory.

O'Farrell and Josh Lichti (Harrisonburg, Va./Harrisonburg) both finished the game with nine points while Collins had five points and four rebounds. O'Farrell has posted at least nine points in four of his last five games and is averaging 9.6 points per game in that stretch while Lichti has scored at least eight points six times in his freshman campaign.

Morton stuffed the stat sheet with nine points, three assists, two rebounds and two steals. The senior now has 961 career points, needing 39 points to become the 10th player in program history with 1,000 points for his career and can also move into 10th place in program history with 18 points.

Goucher returns to action when it starts a three-game road trip on Wednesday at Juniata College. Game time is 7 p.m.