Dragons Defeat UNCW, 79-57, for Fourth Straight Win

Saturday, January 14

Wilmington, N.C.

7:00

Drexel University

UNC Wilmington

Samme Givens became the 31st Dragon to reach 1,000 points

Dragons Defeat UNCW, 79-57, for Fourth Straight Win

1/14/2012 8:50:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Wilmington, N.C. – Derrick Thomas scored a season-high 19 points to lead three players in double figures as Drexel defeated UNC Wilmington, 79-57. It was the fourth straight win for the Dragons, who improved to 12-5 overall and 4-2 in the Colonial Athletic Association.

Thomas was 8-for-12 from the field and made three of his four long-range attempts in the game. Samme Givens added 15 points and became the 31^st Dragon to reach 1,000 career points when he sank a pair of free throws in the opening minute. He now has 1,013 career points, moving him past Robert Battle into 30^th place all-time at the school. In addition, Givens had six rebounds to give him 899 in his career. He moved into 11^th place on the all-time rebounding list in CAA history.

Drexel trailed in the early going, 20-14, but scored the next eight points to take the lead for good. The Dragons ended the half on a 19-3 run and went ahead 37-23 when Thomas nailed a three-pointer with just 20 seconds left in the half. Givens scored 12 of his points in the first half and also had six rebounds. Thomas finished the first half with nine points.

The Dragons continued their strong play in the second half, shooing a blistering 58 percent in the final 20 minutes. They were also aided by a pair of technical fouls on UNCW's Head Coach Buzz Peterson, who was ejected. Damion Lee, who scored 14 points, made all four free throws. The Seahawks made a few three-pointers late to cut it to 14 with just under 10 minutes to play, but Drexel answered with a 11-2 run to put the game away.

Drexel shot 52.7 percent in the game, including a 7-for-15 performance from behind the arc. The Dragons, who came into the game leading the CAA in free throw percentage, made 14 of their 16 free throws from the line. The Dragons also controlled the boards, outrebounding UNCW, 35-25. Daryl McCoy grabbed nine of those boards and also scored nine points. Dartaye Ruffin grabbed eight boards off the bench.

Keith Rendleman led all players with 23 points. Adam Smith added 14 points, but was held to just 1-for-5 shooting from deep.

The Dragons return home on Sunday morning and head back out on the road to face Hofstra on Wednesday night. They return to the DAC to host Northeastern on Jan. 21.