Drexel University
James Madison
Dragons Pull Out 70-67 Victory Over James Madison on Senior Night
2/27/2008 9:49:18 PM | Men's Basketball
Philadelphia, Pa. – Tramayne Hawthorne (Steelton, Pa./Steelton-Highspire) led five Dragons in double figures with 15 points as Drexel hung on to defeat James Madison, 70-67 on Senior Night.
Drexel (12-18, 5-12) appeared to have a comfortable lead at 67-60 with 1:29 to play, but the Dukes (12-16, 4-13) scrambled to get back in the game. Juwann James scored on a three-point play and, after Drexel turned the ball over, James was fouled. He made one of two from the line to cut the lead to 67-64 with 34 seconds remaining. James Madison fouled Scott Rodgers (Philadelphia, Pa./Central) on the next possession and Rodgers missed the first but made the second. Abdulai Jalloh then banked home a three-pointer with 18 seconds left to cut the led to one point. Drexel threw the inbound the length of the court and the ball was almost picked off, but instead it bounced up to Rob Hampton (Queens, N.Y./Christ the King), who scored on a lay-up to give Drexel a 70-67 lead 14 seconds remaining. Madison had a chance to tie but Pierre Curtis missed on a three-point shot and Madison was forced to foul Rodgers. The junior missed both attempts, giving the Dukes one more chance, but Abdulai Jalloh got the rebound but lost control of the ball as time ran out.
The first half featured big runs from both teams. Drexel raced out to and early 10-point lead, only to have James Madison go on a 17-2 run to pull ahead 30-23 with just over three minutes remaining in the half. JMU wouldn't score again in the half as Drexel scored the final nine points of the half.
Hampton had a solid all-around night for the Dragons. The sophomore had 14 points, six assists and five rebounds and was 7-for-11 from the floor. Drexel got a big contribution off the bench from Jamie Harris (New York, N.Y./Wings Academy). The freshman had career-highs of 10 points and eight assists. Harris was 4-for-6 from the floor and had a pair of three-pointers.
The game marked the final Daskalakis Athletic Center appearance for Randy Oveneke (Antwerpen, Belgium/Saint-Anna College) and Frank Elegar (Bronx, N.Y./St. Raymond's). Oveneke finished with 11 points of 5-for-8 shooting in the game, while Elegar had a game-high 12 rebounds. Elegar moved into 15th place on Drexel's all-time scoring and rebounding list.
Drexel shot 49 percent from the floor while holding the Dukes to just 37 percent shooting. Each team committed 18 turnovers. Drexel concludes the regular season on Saturday afternoon at Hofstra. Tip-off is set for noon and the game can be seen live on CN8.
