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Drexel-Penn rivalry finally gets going
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How rare is it to have two Division I colleges only four blocks apart? Well, it’s extremely rare because there are only two schools that can say this is so: Drexel University and the University of Pennsylvania.
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Prior to Tuesday’s game at the Daskalakis Athletic Center (DAC) on the corner of 33rd and Market streets on Drexel’s campus, these two Philadelphia schools had met only 20 times in the last 87 years. The Drexel Dragons and Penn Quakers faced off seven times in the 1920’s with Penn winning all seven contests. Then it was not until 1988 when the neighboring schools met again and the Dragons claimed their first victory in the series, winning by the slimmest of margins, 70-69. Nine years later in 1997, the two schools decided that they would play each other every season to try and ignite a rivalry that should have been born a long time ago.
Up until Tuesday, the Quakers had won eight of the meetings while Drexel had four victories, including a 67-59 overtime win last season.
Even though Drexel had come up short many time times against their cross-street rival, the Dragons felt they had an advantage heading into Tuesday’s game. Unlike the previous 20 meetings, the 21st meeting between Drexel and Penn was held at the DAC rather than the Palestra, Penn’s home court, which is also the oldest college basketball venue in the country.
Like every other Dragons home game, Drexel was able to “pack the DAC” with tons of students wearing their “Fear the Fire” gold shirts. Even at ten-o’clock in the morning on a Tuesday, Drexel’s devoted student section was ready to see their team play their rivals in front of a live national television audience, courtesy of ESPN. The Drexel student section was a sea of gold, making for a hostile environment for the Penn Quaker players.
A free throw by Quaker forward Jack Eggleston gave Penn a 1-0 lead very early on. But after a three-pointer by sophomore Drexel guard Gerald Colds, the Quakers were never able to regain the lead and the Dragons went on to win by a score of 66-64.
Up by as much as 14 points, the Dragons got scoring from many different sources. Senior guards Tramayne Hawthorne and Scott Rodgers each finished with 13 points, sophomore point guard Jamie Harris had nine points, Colds had eight and freshman Samme Givens came off the bench to record seven points and a team-high 10 rebounds.
The Quakers were down 34-27 at the half and climbed all the way in the second half to tie the game at 44-44. But a layup by Dragons junior forward Kenny Tribbett gave Drexel the lead for good.
Penn’s star guard Tyler Bernadini was held in check until about the 6:30 mark in the first half when he knocked down a three-pointer. He finished with 14 points and five assists, but he shot only 4-of-15 from the field, including 2-of-6 from beyond the three-point arc.
The Quakers got a big boost from forward Brennan Votel, who finished one rebound shy of a double-double with 18 points and nine boards. One Quaker player that was extremely impressive was backup guard Kevin Egee, who came off the bench to score 18 points and grab six rebounds.
This game was a wild one with both teams not shooting the ball well, both from the field and from the free throw line. Drexel shot 37% from the field, including 25% from the beyond the three-point arc, and shot only 53% from the free throw line. On the other hand, Penn shot 38% from the field, including 26% from three-point land, and only 46% from the free throw line. Drexel made four additional free throws and that turned out to be the difference.
With the score 66-63, this game went down to the wire as Penn had a chance to tie the game with under four seconds remaining. Quaker guard Zack Rosen, who had just been fouled by Hawthorne on a three-point attempt, missed two out of three free throws and the Quakers were not able to get a good shot before the buzzer sounded.
It is amazing to think that Drexel and Penn, only four blocks apart, have not been meeting on a consistent basis during the last several decades. The Quakers have been a very respectable program throughout the years and are one of the members of Philadelphia’s Big Five. But Drexel has only come on the scene in Philadelphia over the last 15 years.
Before current New York Knicks forward Malik Rose came to Drexel to give the school its only NCAA Tournament win in 1996, the Dragons were not considered to be a legitimate Division I Philadelphia college basketball program. But since the years of Rose and Coach Bill Herrion, Drexel has slowly risen from the ashes and are now considered to be a part of Philadelphia basketball.
Now that Drexel has become an established college basketball program, the Drexel-Penn rivalry is now taking shape. Currently, this is the closest geographic rivalry in college basketball today. Perhaps in the near future, we will also say that this is one of the best rivalries not only in Philadelphia, but in the entire country.
For more info: Think Philly Sports
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