Men's Basketball's Halftime Lead Slips Away in 82-74 Loss to Monmouth

Saturday, November 21

Daskalakis Athletic Center

2:00

Drexel University

0-3

Monmouth

2-1

MONMOUTH

Drexel

Photo by: Gavin Baker

Men's Basketball's Halftime Lead Slips Away in 82-74 Loss to Monmouth

11/21/2015 3:19:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

PHILADELPHIA -- Drexel men's basketball could not hold a halftime lead on Saturday at the Daskalakis Athletic Center, as Monmouth shot 69 percent in the second half to beat the Dragons, 82-74.

Monmouth (2-1) came out firing on all cylinders in the second, upping its pace and opening on an 11-2 run in the first 2:48 of the half. The Hawks could not miss, connecting on nine straight shots at one point and 15 of their first 18 shots en route to shooting 69 percent for the half. Justin Robinson led Monmouth's scorching shooting, scoring 20 of his 28 points in the second and hitting 7-of-8 field goals.

The Dragons hung around, though. Rashann London hit one of his five threes in the game at the 13:45 mark to give Drexel the 49-46 lead. London scored a career-high 20 points and led four Drexel scorers in double figures. Monmouth regained the lead on a Collin Stewart dunk at the 12:11 mark, and never gave it back. The Hawks grew their lead to as many as 11, and never let Drexel come within six points the rest of the way.

In the first half the Dragons scored the first six points, but Monmouth went on a 14-0 run over the next four-plus minutes. However, the Dragons regained their offensive flow and were able to slow down a high-paced Hawks offense that came into the game averaging 87 points per game. Drexel outscored Monmouth 31-14 the rest of the way for the 37-31 halftime advantage. Rodney Williams found his offensive game that had eluded him through the first two games, scoring 10 of his 16 points in the first half. He also added seven rebounds on the day.

The Dragons were also able to outmuscle the Hawks in the first, outrebounding them 17-12, led by Kazembe Abif, who finished with his third career double-double (12 points and 13 rebounds). That advantage swung in the Hawks' favor in the second half, however, as Monmouth finished with the 39-32 advantage on the glass.

Tavon Allen, who was averaging 20.5 points per game coming in, was held to 10 points. Monmouth's Je'lon Hornbeak scored 13 of his 17 points in the second half, and went 8-for-8 from the line.

The Dragons (0-3) will now travel to Anchorage, Alaska where they will play in the Great Alaska Shootout, beginning on Thanksgiving at midnight against UNC Asheville.