Men's Basketball Falls to Illinois State, 86-84, in OT

Thursday, November 15

Daskalakis Athletic Center

7:00

Drexel University

0-2

Illinois State

2-0

OT 1

Illinois State

Drexel

Photo by: Greg Carroccio

Men's Basketball Falls to Illinois State, 86-84, in OT

11/15/2012 9:36:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Box Score

Philadelphia – Illinois State scored seven straight points in overtime and held on to defeat Drexel, 86-84, in the Dragons' home opener at the Daskalakis Athletic Center on Thursday night. The Redbirds (2-0) made three of four free throws in the final 20 seconds to come away with the win in front of a capacity crowd.

The Dragons (0-2) went on a 12-1 run late in the game to turn a three-point deficit into an eight-point lead. However, ISU' s Tyler Brown made a three-pointer and Johnny Hill followed with a three-point play to get the Redbirds back in it and 71-69 with 5:06 to play. The game stayed close and ISU tied it on a Jackie Carmichael lay-up with just under two minutes left. Drexel answered when Frantz Massenat fed a cutting Derrick Thomas for a lay-up to take the lead with only 35 seconds to play. The Dragons then cam e up with a stop on the defensive end and Kazembe Abif grabbed the rebound. He fed the ball to Thomas, who crossed halfcourt and was fouled. The senior had a one-and-one, but missed, giving the Redbirds the chance to tie. The ball went inside to Carmichael, and the senior was sent to the line as Dartaye Ruffin was called for a foul with two ticks left on the clock, much to the chagrin of the crowd. Carmichael made the first, and, after Bruiser Flint called timeout, sank the second to send the game into overtime.

Drexel led in the early going of overtime, but ISU tied it on a three-pointer by Brown. Brown then made a jumper after a Drexel turnover and Carmichael caused another DU turnover, which led to a Johnny Hill jumper giving ISU the four-point lead. The teams traded scoring possessions before Chris Fouch hit a deep three-pointer from straight on with six seconds left making it 85-84 ISU. Drexel fouled and Hill made one of two, giving Drexel the ball with no timeouts and 3.6 seconds left. Massenat drove the length of the court and put up a running three-pointer, but it failed to go down and ISU escaped Philadelphia with the win.

Massenat led five Dragons in double figures with 18 points and had a game-high nine assists. Damion Lee and Fouch each added 16. Fouch had four three-pointers in the game, the third of which gave him 200 in his career. Thomas scored 13, while Abif had a career-high 10 points and seven boards. Dartaye Ruffin led the team with 10 boards and was 4-for-5 from the floor. The Dragons shot 61 percent in the first half, but just 36 percent in the second half. They also committed 16 turnovers.

Carmichael led the Redbirds with 21 points. He did most of his damage at the line, making nine of his 11 freebies. Brown added 20, including three three-pointers. ISU shot 49 percent in the game, including a perfect 3-for-3 in overtime.
Drexel will be back in action on Saturday afternoon. The Dragons will make the four-block trip to the Palestra to face the Penn Quakers at 4 p.m.