Center Valley, PA (December 30, 2021) - The 24th ranked DeSales University men's basketball team suffered its first loss of the season falling to Drew University, 71-54, in the championship game of the Al Senavitis Memorial Tournament on Thursday evening in Billera Hall.

The Basics

• Final Score: Drew - 71, DeSales - 54
• Records: DeSales (12-1 overall); Drew (7-5 overall)
• The loss is the second to Drew in the Al Senavitis Memorial Tournament Championship as the Rangers also took home the title in 2017-18 season. DeSales is now 21-12 all-time vs. the Rangers.
• The Bulldogs program best 12-game winning streak to start the season comes to an end surpassing the previous best start of 9-0 suring the 2008-09 season.

How it Happened

• Drew led early in this one (11-5) as the Bulldogs started 1-for-8 from the field but slowly chipped away at the margin, scoring seven straight points mid-way thru the first half to take a 22-19 lead and hung onto that advantage into the halftime locker room (32-29).
• DeSales continued to lead thru the first nine minutes of the second-half and had a six point advantage (46-40) after a deep 3 from sophomore Christian Guldin with 12:36 left.
• The Rangers dominated from that point forward jump started by a five point possession after an offensive rebound on a missed free throw after an and one cutting the deficit down to one.
• That play ignited a 28-4 run by Drew over the span of 9:38 giving the Rangers a 68-50 lead with 2:58 to go and the Bulldogs were unable to recover.

Top Bulldog Performers

• Senior Matt Kachelries led the Bulldogs with 15 points and added four assists.
• Fellow senior Dat Lambert added 13 points in the loss as he and Kachelries were each named to the All-Tournament Team.

For the Foes

• Howard McBurnie Jr. led the Rangers with his second straight double-double totaling 16 points and 11 rebounds to earn Tournament Most Valuable Player honors.
• Malcom Newman (14 points) and David Gervase (14 points) also reached double digits and earned All-Tournament Team honors.

Inside the Box Score

• DeSales shot a season-low 35.6 percent from the field.
• The Bulldogs also commited a season-high 17 turnovers leading to 20 Ranger points.
• Drew also had a 12-0 edge in fast break points for the game.

Up Next

• The Bulldogs return to action on Wednesday, January 5th when they return to MAC Freedom play at FDU-Florham beginning at 8:00 pm.