Dragons Top Elon For CAA Championship

Tuesday, March 9

Atlantic Union Bank Center, Harrisonburg, Va.

7 p.m.

Drexel University

12-7,4-5CAA

Elon

10-9,4-7CAA

Elon

Drexel

Photo by: Rafael Suanes/CAA

3/9/2021 9:43:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Camren Wynter named Most Outstanding Player

HARRISONBURG, Va. – Drexel punched its ticket to the Big Dance on Tuesday night with a 63-56 win against Elon in the Hercules Tires CAA Men's Basketball Championship. The Dragons won the CAA for the first time and will return to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 25 years.

The sixth-seeded Dragons (12-7) showed their depth as Mate Okros hit 4-of-5 from 3-point range and scored a team-high 14 points off the bench while freshman Xavier Bell contributed 11 points. Drexel, which became the first #6 seed to ever win the CAA title, went 10-of-17 (58.8%) from beyond the arc while limiting the Phoenix to 4-of-19 three-point shooting.

Elon (10-9), which was the first #8 seed to ever advance to the CAA championship game, got a game-high 19 points from guard Hunter McIntosh and 16 points from backcourt mate Ikenna Ndugba. The loss snapped a seven-game winning streak for the Phoenix.

Elon sprinted out to a 17-9 lead midway through the first half, but Drexel battled back and took a five-point lead into intermission. Zach Walton sent the Dragons to halftime with momentum. The senior, who led the squad in scoring in both the quarterfinals and semifinals, was held scoreless until the final possession of the first half. The Dragons worked the clock down for the final shot and Walton drilled a deep 3-pointer from the left wing to increase the Dragons lead to 32-27.

The Dragons stayed in control early in the second half before Elon closed to within 48-44 on Ndugba bucket with 8:26 left. Drexel responded with back-to-back triples from Walton and Okros to push its cushion back to 10. Elon managed to trim the deficit to four with 1:02 to go, but Drexel went 6-of-6 at the free throw line down the stretch to seal the victory.

Drexel junior guard Camren Wynter was named the Most Outstanding Performer of the tournament and was joined on the all-tournament squad by teammates James Butler and Walton. Also making the team were Elon's McIntosh and Ndugba and Hofstra's Jalen Ray.

All-Tournament Team
Jalen Ray – Hofstra
Hunter McIntosh – Elon
Ikenna Ndugba – Elon
Zach Walton – Drexel
James Butler – Drexel
Camren Wynter – Drexel – Most Outstanding Player