Drexel Falls to UNC Asheville in Opener of Great Alaska Shootout, 85-66

Thursday, November 26

Anchorage, Alaska

Midnight

Drexel University

0-4

UNC Asheville

2-3

Drexel

UNC Asheville

Photo by: Gavin Baker

Drexel Falls to UNC Asheville in Opener of Great Alaska Shootout, 85-66

11/27/2015 2:29:00 AM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Anchorage, Alaska – UNC Asheville rallied from a four-point halftime deficit to defeat Drexel, 85-66, in the opening round of the Great Alaska Shootout. Freshman Terrell Allen scored a career-high 19 points to lead the Dragons, who fell to 0-4 on the season. UNC Asheville is now 2-3.

Drexel led early in the second half after a lay-up by Tavon Allen made it 40-38 at the 18:20 mark. UNC Asheville answered with the first of two 10-point runs in the half as the Dragons went scoreless for more than four minutes. With the score, 56-50 midway through the second half, the Bulldogs put together another 10-point run to extend its led to 16 points. The Dragons would not get within single digits the rest of the way.

Drexel dug a deep hole for itself early. UNC Asheville scored the first 12 points of the game before the Dragons finally got on the board when Tavon Allen sank a pair of free throws. Drexel didn't have a field goal until the 14:10 mark. However, the Dragons chipped away and took a 38-34 lead at intermission. Sammy Mojica and Tyshawn Myles sparked Drexel off the bench in the first half. Mojica scored 12 of his season-high 16 points in the half, while Myles was 3-for-3 shooting and had six points and six rebounds at the break. Myles filled in for Rodney Williams, who was saddled with foul trouble early. Drexel shot 54 percent in the half, but the second half would prove to be a different story as the team was just 33 percent from the floor in the final 20 minutes.

Terrell Allen was 7-for-10 from the floor and made five of his six free throw attempts. He also had a career-best six assists and four rebounds. Mojica hit double figures for the first time in 2015-16. He was 6-for-7 from the line and also had three assists in 21 minutes before fouling out.

Sam Hughes scored 18 to lead UNC Asheville. Three other players had at least 14 for the Bulldogs. They shot 47 percent in the game and capitalized on their free throw attempts, sinking 26 of 36 shots from the line

The Dragons play their second game in the tournament on Friday against the hosts from Alaska Anchorage. The host, a Division II school, has defeated at least one Division I team in 28 of the last 31 seasons. Last year, the Seawolves defeated Rice. On Thursday, they narrowly missed another upset, falling to Middle Tennessee, 75-72.