Saint Joseph's Defeats Drexel, 62-49

Wednesday, November 30

Philadelphia, Pa.

7:00

Drexel University

Saint Joseph's

Damion Lee scored 14 points in the loss to Saint Joseph's

11/30/2011 8:55:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Philadelphia – Saint Joseph's broke an 18-18 tie with a 12-1 run to end the first half and defeated Drexel, 62-49. Damion Lee led Drexel with 14 points as the Dragons record fell to 2-3. The Hawks are now 5-2.

Drexel fell behind by seven points in the early going, but rallied to tie the score at 18-18 when Frantz Massenat scored on a fast break lay-in at the 8:44 mark. That would be the Dragons last field goal of the half as they went cold from the floor, missing their final seven shots, and committed six turnovers in the final seven minutes of the first half. The Hawks closed the half on a 12-1 run to take an 11-point lead at halftime. The last few seconds of the half epitomized the Dragons' struggle. Drexel was down nine with the ball with less than 10 seconds to play. Chris Fouch, playing in his first game of the year, missed a three-pointer and the Hawks grabbed the board and threw a pass the length of the floor. Ronald Roberts caught it, was fouled by Fouch with 0.2 seconds left and sank a pair of free throws to increase the lead to double digits.

The Dragons looked like they were going to get back in it as the second half started. They opened with a 5-0 run to cut the lead to just six points and got the ball back. However, Frantz Massenat missed a pair of free throws and after another Drexel stop defensively, the Dragons missed a short jumper in the lane. The Hawks then got back on track and rattled off seven straight points to take a double-digit lead they would hold on to the rest of the way.

The Hawks held the Dragons to just 31 percent shooting. They blocked 16 Drexel shots, including nine by C.J. Aiken. Aiken led four players in double figures with 13 points.

Lee scored 12 of his team-high 14 points in the second half. He added six rebounds and three assists. Samme Givens and Dartaye Ruffin each grabbed eight rebounds. Givens moved into sixth place on Drexel's career rebounding list. He passed Joe Linderman and now has 813 in his career.

Drexel has an early-season Colonial Athletic Association game on Saturday afternoon. The Dragons make the trip down I-95 to Newark to face the University of Delaware at 4 p.m. in a game that can be seen on The Comcast Network.