The Drexel men’s basketball team (1-3) notched their first win of the young 2009-2010 season with a 58-49 win over their neighborhood rival, the University of Pennsylvania Quakers. In this “Battle off 33rd Street,” as many Drexel and Penn students have come to call it, junior point guard Jamie Harris was the player of the game scoring a career-high 22 points, including several acrobatic shots as the shot clock was winding down and six key free throws down the stretch.
With senior star forward Leon Spencer expected to miss about eight weeks with a broken wrist, which was announced at yesterday’s game, it was up to the other big men for Coach James “Bruiser” Flint to step up their respective games. Senior forward Evan Neisler ended the game with a double-double of 10 points 10 rebounds, including eight boards on the offensive glass. Also contributing was 6’9” freshman Daryl McCoy, who did not score but grabbed seven defensive rebounds in only 17 minutes of action. The most surprising big man for Drexel in this game was reserve sophomore forward Kevin Phillip. In 19 minutes of action, the 6’7” Phillip finished with six points, six rebounds, three blocked shots and a steal, providing some much needed energy and offensive presence for the Dragons.
The game moved at a slow pace from start to finish as the teams combined for 30 turnovers, 12 of which belonged to Drexel. In this game, neither team was able to make a three-point field goal. In fact, it was the first time that a Drexel team did not make a shot from beyond the arc since February of 1992.
Drexel led 26-20 at halftime and scored the first six points of the second half, solidifying their lead for good. Penn did make a run late in the second half to cut the lead to as little as three points. But thanks to Harris, Phillip and junior guard Gerald Colds, who had 10 points and three assists, Drexel was able to put a number other than zero in the win column.
Coach Flint once again had a great defensive plan for Drexel’s opponent, holding Penn to only 35% shooting and forcing 18 turnovers. Freshman Derrick Thomas, who finished with eight points, played great defense as he finished with a game-high three steals, including a couple of “coast-to-coast” layups off two of those steals.
Now with win number-one out of the way for the Drexel Dragons, Coach Flint brings his team to their home court, the Daskalakis Athletic Center, for the first time this season. With four road games to start the year behind them, the Dragons will sure be glad to be at the DAC as they play host to the Legends Classic. Drexel will first take on the University of Vermont on Friday, then Toledo on Saturday, followed by Cornell on Sunday.
With this win over the Penn Quakers, Drexel has now defeated their cross-street rivals three years in a row, which is the first time in school history that has happened. This could be a great opportunity for the Dragons to ride the wave of their first win of the season and win a couple more games in front of their home crowd on this Thanksgiving holiday weekend.
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