Drexel University
Towson
Drexels Comeback at Towson Comes Up Short, 84-80
2/4/2006 12:00:00 AM
The Tigers raced out to an early lead as Neal scored 20 of his game-high 33 points in the first half. Drexel shot just 31 percent in the first half and turned the ball over nine times. In the first meeting with Towson, the Dragons tied a school record by committing only four turnovers in the entire contest.
The lead swelled to 30 early in the second half before Drexel started its comeback. The Dragons held the Tigers without a field goal for more than 10 minutes in the second half and got the lead down to nine when Bashir Mason (Jersey City, N.J./St. Benedict's) sank a pair of free throws at the 3:13 mark to make it 72-63. Mason was a key in the comeback as he scored 15 of his team-high 21 points in the second half. Mason had six three-pointers in the contest.
Dominick Mejia (Voorhees, N.J./Eastern), who missed his first 11 shots of the game, nailed three three-pointers in the final 1:13 and Mason stole an inbound pass to set up a Kenell Sanchez (Camden, N.J./Bishop Eustace) lay-up to make it 82-80 with five seconds left. Neal was then fouled by Scott Rodgers (Philadelphia, Pa./Central) and made a pair of free throws to ice the game.
Sanchez had his third double-double in his last four games with 16 points and tied a career-high 14 rebounds. He had all 16 points in the second half. Frank Elegar (Bronx, N.Y./St. Raymond's) added 18 points, while Rodgers had career-highs with nine points and 10 rebounds.
Lawrence Hamm had 19 points and 12 rebounds for Towson. Tim Crossin handed out 11 assists for the Tigers.
Drexel returns home to face Northeastern on Thursday night at the Daskalakis Athletic Center.
