Dragons Outlast College of Charleston Friday in Overtime, 87-82

Friday, January 5

Daskalakis Athletic Center

7 p.m.

Drexel University

7-9 (1-2CAA)

College of Charleston

11-4 (2-1CAA)

OT 1

COLLEGE OF CHARLESTO

DREXEL

Photo by: Greg Carroccio

Dragons Outlast College of Charleston Friday in Overtime, 87-82

1/5/2018 9:06:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

PHILADELPHIA – The Drexel men's basketball team bounced back from a difficult road trip Friday night in its Colonial Athletic Association home opener to outlast the College of Charleston Cougars in overtime at the Daskalakis Athletic Center, 87-82. The Dragons improve to 7-9 (1-2 CAA), while the preseason conference favorite College of Charleston dropped to 11-4 (2-1 CAA).

Drexel jumped out to an early lead and held onto it until the waning minutes of the second half. Joe Chealey, who finished with 22 points, hit one of two from the line with 1:09 remaining to tie the game at 71-71 before knocking down a jumper with 33 seconds left to put the Cougars ahead. The Dragons, however, never faltered, as they got the ball in Kurk Lee's hands, and the sophomore took it to the basket for a lay-in to tie the game again at 73-73 with 22 seconds left. Lee led the Dragons with 22 points on 8-of-12 shooting, while adding four rebounds and three steals. College of Charleston had a look at the other end for the win as the clock was winding down, but Jarrell Brantley's three-point attempt fell short, sending the game into overtime.

In the extra session, the Cougars took an early lead after Brantley hit a triple for three of his 20 points. The Dragons would score six straight off a free throw from Tramaine Isabell, a clutch three from Lee and a short jumper from Alihan Demir to take a five-point lead with 1:45 remaining. A couple free throws from Chealey, a couple buckets from Brantley and a couple rare misses at the free throw line by Troy Harper kept the Cougars alive, as they pulled within one with 26 seconds left. Again, though, the Dragons hung tough. Harper redeemed himself by sinking two from the line, and after a missed layup by Marquise Pointer with the Cougars trying to steal a quick two down three out of a timeout, Lee sealed the 87-82 overtime win with two free throws of his own.

Demir poured in a career-high 20 points on 8-of-10 shooting and added six rebounds and four assists. Austin Williams finished with his fifth double-double of his senior campaign, putting up 10 points and 13 boards to go with four blocks and three steals. Harper scored 14 points on an efficient 5-of-8 night from the field, while Tramaine Isabell pitched in with 14 points in his return to the floor after missing the last three games. Charleston, with their grind-it-out, physical defensive style was able to limit the Dragons to 58 shot attempts, but the Dragons took advantage of their opportunities, making 56.9 percent of them. On the defensive end, Drexel held Charleston to 41.6 percent (30 for 72) shooting from the field. Despite scoring 22 points, Drexel held Chealey to 6-of-16 shooting. Brantley, a matchup nightmare because of his physicality and ability to step out to shoot, finished with a 20-and-10 double-double, but turned the ball over five times.

The Dragons grew a lead out to as many as 11 less than nine minutes into a game to knock the Cougars off-balance. Charleston was able to cut the Drexel lead to a basket with less than five minutes to go, but the Dragons held tough, keeping the Cougars at arm's length. After a couple of timely buckets from Harper to get the DAC crowd back into it and two free throws apiece from Demir and Isbell, the Dragons found themselves with an eight-point halftime lead. The Dragons again grew the lead to double figures in the second half, thanks in large part to a brilliant all-around game from Demir. As the Cougars chipped into the Drexel lead, the Dragons always came up with an answer. Even when the Cougars tied it and went ahead, the Dragons never faltered. They stood tall and outlasted the conference favorites for their first league win of the year.

The Dragons will return to action at the DAC on Sunday at 4 p.m. when they host the William & Mary Tribe to close out the weekend.