Dragons Open 2014 With a Loss at Southern Miss

Friday, January 3

Hattiesburg, Miss.

7:00 CST

Drexel University

8-5

Southern Mississippi

13-2

Drexel

Southern Miss

Dragons Open 2014 With a Loss at Southern Miss

1/3/2014 9:52:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Box Score (PDF)

Hattiesburg, Miss. – Southern Mississippi scored the first 10 points of the second half and went on to a 66-49 victory over Drexel at the Reed Green Coliseum. The Golden Eagles outscored the Dragons, 22-5, over the first 10 minutes of the final frame and remained unbeaten on their home court. With the loss, Drexel fell to 8-5 on the season.

Southern Miss (13-2) led by just three at intermission, but Jeremiah Eason scored the first seven points of the half and Aaron Brown, a transfer from Temple, drained a three-pointer to make it 41-28. The Golden Eagles never looked back. Nothing seemed to go right for the Dragons the entire night. Drexel shot just 38 percent from the floor, including 31 percent in the second half. The Dragons shot a miserable 5-for-17 from the charity stripe and committed 12 turnovers. They came into the game fourth in the nation in least turnovers committed. Southern Miss cleaned up on the glass. The Golden Eagles had 22 offensive rebounds and outrebounded the Dragons, 52-24.

Drexel was forced to go to its bench early in this game. Frantz Massenat picked up his second foul of the game just 2:21 into the game. The Golden Eagles took advantage and opened up a 20-14 lead. Drexel chipped away and even took a brief 25-24 lead when Massenat hit the first of his two first-half three-pointers with 3:48 to play. However, Southern Miss regained the lead on a trey by Jerrold Brooks and went to intermission with a 31-28 lead. The Golden Eagles had nine offensive rebounds which led to seven second-chance points. Seven different Golden Eagles had at least one bucket in the game's first 20 minutes. Tavon Allen and Chris Fouch kept the Dragons in the game with Massenat out as the duo combined for Drexel's first 16 points in the contest. Massenat did have eight points and three assists in just 12 minutes.

Allen led the team with 15 points. Fouch chipped in with 13 and had three three-pointers. Brown led four Golden Eagles in double figures with 11 points. Southern Miss shot just 35 percent from the floor, but had 19 second chance points in the game.

The Dragons begin Colonial Athletic Association play on Wednesday night at William & Mary. The Dragons and Tribe tip at 7 p.m. in a game that can be heard live on Drexeldragons.com.