William & Mary Hands Drexel 85-73 Loss in CAA Opener

Wednesday, January 8

Williamsburg, Va.

7:00

Drexel University

8-6 (0-1CAA)

William & Mary

9-5 (1-0CAA)

Drexel

William & Mary

William & Mary Hands Drexel 85-73 Loss in CAA Opener

1/8/2014 8:09:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Box Score (PDF)

Williamsburg, Va. – William & Mary (9-5, 1-0 CAA) raced out to a big first half lead and held on to defeat Drexel, 85-73, in the Colonial Athletic Association opener for both teams. The Dragons (8-6, 0-1) cut the lead down to seven on two occasions in the final three minutes but were not able to get any closer. Frantz Massenat led Drexel with 19 points, while Tavon Allen and Chris Fouch each scored 18 in the loss.

The first half was all William & Mary. The Tribe broke a 2-2 tie on a Kyle Gaillard three-pointer and never trailed again. William & Mary shot a blistering 60 percent from the floor in the half and was 8-for-13 from deep. Three different players had at least two treys as the Tribe put together a 9-0 run and led by as many as 17 points in the half. William & Mary used a three-pointer by Brandon Britt as time expired to take a 46-30 at the break. Allen led Drexel with 10 first- half points.

Drexel and William & Mary went back and forth in the first five minutes of the second half before the Dragons started chipping away at the lead. The Dragons got to within 10 points for the first time in the second half when Frantz Massenat hit a pair of free throws with 8:05 left. However every time Drexel seemed to be making it closer, the Tribe answered either with a free throw or a clutch basket. With less than three minutes to play, Drexel scored and called time. On the inbounds, Major Canady picked off a pass and went in for an uncontested lay-up, making it a 78-71 Tribe lead. After the teams swapped pairs of free throws, William & Mary put the game away when Marcus Thornton hit a long three-pointer as the shot clock expired making it a 10-point contest with just 1:21 remaining in the game.

Drexel made just three of its 18 long-range attempts, while the Tribe drained 11 three-pointers in 23 tries. Thornton led William & Mary with 18 points. Omar Prewitt and Britt each scored 15 points, while Kyle Gaillard added 14. William & Mary shot 51 percent in the game and finished 26-for-39 from the charity stripe. The Tribe took 35 free throws in the second half and had 34 points from its bench.

Drexel played the game without starting forward Kazembe Abif, who suffered a knee injury last week. Midway through the first half, Dartaye Ruffin, Drexel's other starting big man, went down with an apparent leg injury and did not return.

The Dragons open the home portion of their Colonial Athletic Association on Saturday afternoon at the Daskalakis Athletic Center. Drexel and Northeastern tip off at 2 p.m. in a game that can be seen live on The Comcast Network.