Dragons Down Delaware in Newark, 58-48

Saturday, February 5

Newark, Del.

8:00

Drexel University

Delaware

Chris Fouch scored 23 points to lead Drexel past Delaware

2/5/2011 10:01:36 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Newark, Del. – Chris Fouch scored 19 of his game-high 23 points in the second half as Drexel (16-7, 8-5 CAA) defeated Delaware at the Carpenter Center, 58-48. The Drexel defense held Delaware (11-12, 6-7) to its lowest scoring output and lowest field goal percentage of the season in the game. It was the Dragons fifth win in its last six games.

The Blue Hens opened the second half with an 11-4 run to increase their lead to seven points at 34-27. Jawan Carter had the first five points for the Hens and Devon Saddler had four points. The Blue Hens held the lead until the 7:23 mark, when the Dragons' Chris Fouch scored on a driving lay-up and was fouled. Fouch made the free throw to tie it at 40 apiece. Drexel took the lead for good at 44-42 when Frantz Massenet sank a pair of free throws with just under five minutes to play. That started a 9-0 run that the Blue Hens could not recover from. Samme Givens had a three-point play during the stretch and Fouch ended it with a short jumper with 2:27 to play to put Drexel ahead, 51-42.

Delaware had its chances in the final few minutes, as the freshman Saddler drove the lane repeatedly down the stretch and got to the line. However, Saddler missed four free throws in the final 41 seconds. On the other end, the Dragons made seven of eight free throws in the final minute to pick up the road win.

In what has been a common theme as of late, the defense once again won the game for the Dragons. Derrick Thomas, with some help from his teammates, did an outstanding job on the defensive end against Carter, who entered the game tied for sixth in the league in scoring. Carter was held to 1-for-10 shooting and had five of his eight points from the charity stripe. Drexel's defense held the Hens to just 29 percent shooting, marking the fourth time the Dragons have held an opponent under 30 percent.

Delaware tied the score at 23-23 with two second left in the half. Carter was fouled by Derrick Thomas attempting a three-pointer and made all three of his free throw attempts. The Dragons shot well in the first half (47 percent) but attempted just 17 field-goal attempts and had seven turnovers. Dartaye Ruffin carried the offense, scoring 10 of Drexel's 23 points. .

Fouch had a solid all-around game, sinking 8-of-11 from the floor, 7-for-8 from the line and grabbed seven boards. Ruffin, a CAA Freshman of the Year candidate, finished with 14 points and eight rebounds. The Dragons, who entered the game near the bottom of the CAA in free-throw shooting, sank 83 percent from the line, including 13 of 15 in the second half.

Saddler was the only Blue Hen in double figures with 20 points. Kelvin McNeil grabbed a team-high seven rebounds and three blocks.

Drexel returns to the Daskalakis Athletic Center for its next two games. The Dragons face the James Madison Dukes in a pivotal match-up on Wednesday night at 7 p.m. Drexel will then face William & Mary on Saturday. It will be the second meeting with each team. Drexel lost its previous meeting to both teams in Virginia.