Allen's Big Second Half Propels Drexel Past Delaware, 69-65

Sunday, February 23

Newark, Del.

3:00

Drexel University

15-12, 7-7CAA

Delaware

20-9, 12-2CAA

Drexel

Delaware

Allen's Big Second Half Propels Drexel Past Delaware, 69-65

2/23/2014 4:38:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Box Score (PDF)

Newark, Del. – Tavon Allen scored 19 of his career-high 25 points in the second half as Drexel defeated Delaware, 69-65. The Dragons (15-12, 7-7 CAA) held the Blue Hens (20-9, 12-2 CAA) without a field goal in the final 2:42 and sent a capacity crown home disappointed on Senior Night in Newark. The win for Drexel snapped a 10-game home winning streak for the Blue Hens.

With Drexel trailing, 63-62, after a Carl Baptiste lay-up, Frantz Massenat was fouled with 2:28 left in the game and sent to the line. He calmly gave the Dragons the lead, one they would not relinquish the rest of the way. The defense came up with two straight stops and Allen extended the lead to three on lay-up with 1:16 to play. The Blue Hens attempted to tie it, but Devon Saddler's three-point attempt with 50 second left to play was blocked by Massenat. He was fouled 10 seconds later and made another pair of free throws to make it a 68-63 lead. Delaware's Davon Usher gave the Hens a chance to get close when he was fouled on a three-point attempt. He was able to make two of his three attempts, cutting the lead to 68-65 with :34 seconds left. Rodney Williams gave Drexel a four-point lead by making one of his two free throws. Delaware's Kyle Anderson had two three-point attempts in the final 20 seconds, but missed both and Drexel went home victorious.

The second half was back and forth most of the way. Tavon Allen and Davon Usher seemed to go back and forth with baskets most of the half. Allen was 7-for-11 in the second half, while Usher had 14 of his 19 points in the final frame for the Blue Hens. Allen's offense was needed as Drexel played a good portion of the second half without Massenat, who picked up his fourth foul with 13 minutes remaining.

The Blue Hens raced out to a 10-0 lead to start the game. Kyle Anderson and Davon Usher each had three-pointers before the Dragons finally got on the board on a Mohamed Bah free throw. It took the Dragons more than five minutes to make a field goal. Rodney Williams broke the drought on a short jumper by Rodney Williams at the 14:50 mark. The Dragons answered the 10-0 start with an 18-3 run of their own. Chris Fouch had nine points in the run and the Dragons briefly took the lead. Despite Frantz Massenat picking up his third foul with 4:23 left in the half, the Dragons managed to go to intermission down by just two points at 33-31. Devon Saddler had 12 of his team-high 20 points for the Blue Hens in the opening half.

Allen was 10-for-17 in the game and also led Drexel with four assists. Fouch added 19 points, while Massenat finished with 11. Dartaye Ruffin led the Dragons with 12 rebounds, the seventh time this year he has had 10 or more boards. Bah had a career-high nine rebounds for the Dragons, who won the battle of the boards, 42-33. The defense was solid once again. For the sixth straight game, Drexel held its opponent to less than 40 percent shooting from the floor. Delaware was just 25-for-64 (.391) in the game. The Dragons shot a little better at 41 percent, but cleaned up at the free-throw line. Drexel's guards were 12-for-12 from the line and finished the game 16-for-19 (.842) from the charity stripe.

The crowd of 5,122 was the eighth largest crowd in the history of the Bob Carpenter Center, and the largest crowd since December of 2001.

The Dragons return home for Senior Night on Wednesday. Drexel will face the College of Charleston at 7 p.m. in the final home game of the season at the Daskalakis Athletic Center.