Dragons Lead Wire-to-Wire and Hold Off La Salle Thursday, 72-70

Thursday, December 7

Philadelphia, Pa.

7 p.m.

Drexel University

5-4

La Salle

5-5

Drexel

La Salle

Photo by: Greg Carroccio

Dragons Lead Wire-to-Wire and Hold Off La Salle Thursday, 72-70

12/7/2017 8:57:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

PHILADELPHIA – The Drexel men's basketball team led wire-to-wire and held off the La Salle Explorers Thursday night at Tom Gola Arena, 72-70. The Dragons have now won three straight and improved to 5-4, while La Salle falls to 5-5 on the year. With the win, Drexel's senior class is the program's first ever to beat La Salle twice at Gola.

Drexel came out of the gates strong and set the tone by bringing energy on the defensive end and shooting the lights out. Instead of trading buckets with the talented La Salle squad, the Dragons were able to get stops and turn the defensive effort into points on the other end. The Dragons would need the big lead to weather a cold stretch in the second half that allowed the Explorers to get back in the game. Drexel, however, was able to stave off the charging Explorers long enough for the clock to hit zeroes and the score to show the two-point Drexel victory.

The Dragons, battling injuries, punched the Explorers in the mouth with a quick 12-4 burst to open the game. After Alihan Demir hit a triple and Kurk Lee banked one home, the lead grew to a dozen just over six minutes in. Tyshawn Myles' lay-in at the 11:00 mark grew the Dragons' lead to 14 points, the largest it would be all night. To the Explorers' credit, they never allowed the deficit to grow insurmountable, and they began to mount an attack. Pookie Powell, La Salle's second leading scorer, drained two threes before a Saul Phiri triple got the Explorers within five. Another Powell three at 2:24 kept the Drexel lead at five. The Dragons, however, caught fire and finished out the half on an 8-0 run, thanks in large part to two more threes from Lee, to head to the locker room with a 43-30 lead. The Dragons shot a scorching 57.7 percent in the first half, including 6 of 8 from deep, while holding the Explorers below 37 percent.

The second half began with a quick pace and both teams trading baskets, but the Drexel lead continued to hover around a dozen. Lee hit a layup with 6:40 remaining to push the lead back to 12, 67-55, and that is when the Explorers pounced. After a couple of free throws from Amar Stukes, Isiah Deas scored eight straight by himself, including two massive threes to get the Gola crowd back into it and cut the deficit to two. Lee would get to the basket again at 2:11 to end the run, but not before the Dragons went nearly four and a half minutes with a point. Late in the second half as the Dragons tried to slow the pace and eat some clock, the offense sputtered. La Salle jumped all over the Dragons in that time, forcing three of Drexel's 18 turnovers during the drought. B.J. Johnson, La Salle's star, converted on an and-one with 2:05 left to make it a 70-68 game, and Austin Williams answered on the other end with a jump hook. After another Johnson free throw and a couple empty Drexel possessions, La Salle found themselves with the ball trailing by three and the shot clock turned off. Johnson was fouled by Lee on a drive to his right with eight seconds left and converted on one to make it 72-70. Sammy Mojica came down with the rebound and got fouled, but missed both from the line. With a chance to tie or win, La Salle got the ball in the hands of Deas, who had hit two huge shots to get the Explorers back into the game, but his three from the right elbow was off the mark, and the Dragons came away with the win.

Lee led all scorers with a season-high 23 points on 9-for-18 shooting, including 4 of 6 from three, to go along with eight rebounds, four assists and three steals. Mojica followed up his career day against Rider with 19 points on 6-for-12 shooting and six rebounds. Both played all 40 minutes. Williams was again efficient from the floor, going 7 for 11 to finish with 16 points and seven rebounds before fouling out. Demir chipped in five points and five assists. All five starters played 31 minutes or more, and all seven players who got in scored. The Dragons finished the night 52.9 percent overall from the field and 61.5 percent from three, while holding La Salle to 41.0 percent. Johnson led the Explorers with 21 points and 11 rebounds. Powell pitched in 16 points, and Deas netted 14.

Drexel next heads to Pittsburgh to take on the Robert Morris Colonials on Sunday afternoon.