Madison – Buoyed by a 50-point first-half performance, the Drew men’s basketball team continued their storybook season, toping Catholic, 85-70, in the 2025 Landmark Conference Championship game in a packed and raucous Baldwin Gym in Madison.
The Rangers’ offense got rolling early after Pat Higgins drained a three-pointer only 17 seconds into the contest, giving Drew an early lead right out of the gate.
For their part, Catholic looked as though they might be able to keep pace with Drew early on, as the Cardinals managed to keep the contest close for the first quarter of the game. However, with the score tied at 11 with 15:06 left in the first half, Higgins made another three, and the Drew offense started to assert itself.
James Anderson started an 8-0 Drew run with a three with 12:18 left in the first period. Kevin Cronin followed Anderson’s three with a transition three of his own, and Josh Kline capped the run with an athletic layup while falling to the ground to put the Rangers up 26-13 with 11:07 left in the frame.
Drew was not done, though. They would go on a 16-4 run later in the half to give them a 48-24 lead with 1:07 left in the first period. Anderson, Cronin, Higgins, and tournament MVP Malcolm Newman all displayed their sharpshooting abilities, knocking down threes during the run.
From there, the Rangers added two more points, and Catholic added five to make the score 50-29 at the intermission.
While the Cardinals shot a respectable 44 percent from the field in the first period, the Rangers meanwhile shot a blistering 69.2 percent from the field and 58.8 percent from long range during the first half.
Drew cooled down in the second half, and Catholic was able to cut the Rangers’ lead down to ten at 54-44 with 12:29 remaining in the game. However, another Higgins triple a few moments later sparked the Drew offense, and two beautiful alley-oops from Higgins to Peso Crump, the first on a fast break, electrified the crowd inside Baldwin Gym.
Catholic would get no closer than 11 for the remainder of the contest, and when the final buzzer sounded, the students in attendance stormed onto the court in celebration.
Newman led all scorers with 18 points. He was joined by three other Drew players to reach double figures in scoring. Higgins netted 16 pints, Kline recorded 14, and Crump added 13. Peso and Kline were the Rangers’ top rebounders with four apiece.
With the win, Drew earns the Landmark Conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, marking their first appearance in the tournament in program history. The win also pushed the Rangers’ school record win streak to 16 games and broke the program’s record for wins in a season, which was previously held by the 2018-2019 team.
