Dragons Stun Houston Friday in Opening Round of Paradise Jam, 84-80

Friday, November 17

Lynchburg, Va.

2:30 p.m.

Drexel University

2-1

Houston

1-1

Drexel

Houston

Photo by: Mitchell Layton

Dragons Stun Houston Friday in Opening Round of Paradise Jam, 84-80

11/17/2017 5:20:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Lynchburg, Va. - Sammy Mojica drained a three-pointer with just :28 seconds to play as Drexel stunned Houston, 84-80, in the opening round of the 2017 Paradise Jam at Liberty University. The Dragons (2-1) trailed by as many as 10 points before mounting a furious comeback to pick up their second straight win. Tramaine Isabell had a huge day for the Dragons, scoring a team-high 21 points and grabbing 16 rebounds.

The Dragons fell behind 68-58 after a made free throw by Houston's (1-1) Rob Gray with 8:59 to play, but answered with six straight points to make it a two-possession game, which it stayed the rest of the way. Drexel cut it to three points on three occasions over the next five plus minutes, but it seemed every time the Dragons did that, the Cougars answered. However, Drexel finally was able to get the game down to a point when Kurk Lee drove in between a pair of Cougars to make it 76-75. Houston then missed a pair of free throws and Drexel took advantage. Troy Harper got fouled on the way up and made both free throws, giving the Dragons the lead at 77-76. It took Houston all of 12 seconds to get the lead back when Gray scored on a lay-up. Lee and Gray swapped baskets on the next possessions and Houston got the ball after a Lee miss with less than a minute to play. The Cougars raced down the court on a 2-on-1, but Harper made perhaps the play of the game. He stood his ground against a much bigger Devin Davis and drew the charge. That gave Drexel the ball and set up Mojica's big shot.

Houston dominated play early in the first half but led by just a 45-38 score at intermission. The Cougars owned the paint, scoring 24 of their points from inside. Gray, who had a career-high 37 points, poured in 23 by intermission. Drexel was able to stay in the game due in part to the long ball. The Dragons made six three-pointers in the first half and sank 12 of their 14 free throw attempts.

Isabell, in just his second game as a Dragon, grabbed 13 of his boards on the defensive end. He added three three-pointers and was 8-for-8 from the line. As a team, Drexel was 27-for-31 from the charity stripe and shot 47 percent from the floor. Houston, on the other hand, left 11 points at the line as it made just 50 percent of its freebies. The Cougars also struggled from deep, with the exception of Gray. Houston was 7-for-26 from long range, with Gray making five of his eight attempts.

Drexel advances to the winners' bracket, where it will face Mercer on Saturday at 6 p.m.