By Sean Kennedy (@PhillyFastBreak)
Hofstra 81, Drexel 57 – Box Score
Riding a 6-game winning streak and sitting just 1.5 games out of first place in the CAA standings entering play Sunday, the Dragons really had an opportunity to climb out of their early season hole. Unfortunately, Hofstra was coming to town, a squad that really appears to have Drexel’s number on the season. The first matchup between the two teams resulted in 50 points in the paint for the Pride, the most allowed by the Dragons in a game to date. This latest performance was like that game went out and cloned itself, with Drexel even being slightly worse, Multiplicity-style.
Coach Flint in the post-game presser: “It was an exact copy of the first game. It was.”
Hofstra scored more points in the paint than Drexel had total for the game, outscoring the Dragons 58-16 down low. A pivotal 20-3 run in the first half got the Pride comfortably out in front, as Drexel went 6 minutes without making a field goal. Malik Nichols was a stud early on, tying a career-high with 15 points (all in the first half). Following the break, he passed the torch along to fellow big man Moussa Kone, who dropped a career-high 23 points on a perfect 10-10 from the field. Kone routinely threw down thunderous dunks to get the sizable Hofstra fan contingent in attendance off its feet.
Tavon Allen did his best to keep Drexel hanging around for a bit, hitting 3 of his first 4 shots and ending the first half with 14 points on 6-11 shooting; he would finish with a team-high 20 points. However, it was an unusually quiet game for Drexel star Damion Lee. He finished with 15 points, but much of that came with the game out of reach in the second half. Lee sat out a big chuck of the first half with a couple fouls, after the Pride effectively posted him up with both Nichols and Ameen Tanksley. There were just 5 minutes left in the first half when Lee recorded his first point of the game; his first made field goal came 4 minutes after halftime. No one else stepped up at all offensively for the Dragons.
“They play us real physical,” Flint said. “You driving, you better be ready to take a bang and get it at the rim. We didn’t do that.”
Adding injury to insult, Rodney Williams left the game early in the second half after getting clotheslined going up to the rim. He was immediately taken to the bench for concussion protocol and then escorted to the locker room.
Williams is expected to be re-evaluated on Monday. It’s potentially another tough blow for a team that’s dealt with a series of debilitating injuries throughout the season.
Fortunately for the Dragons, their 6-game winning streak afforded them the luxury of a slip-up here and there. They still sit just 2 games out of first place with 4 to play, but in the wide-open Colonial, that means Drexel can finish anywhere from 1st to 8th. However, if the Dragons are going to go to war, they’re going to have to battle better down in the trenches.
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