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COLLEGE BASKETBALL: The Battle of 33rd Street Belongs to Penn

By Nick Borowski. Photos: Zack Beavers, 11/18/22, 4:45PM EST

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Videos/Photos: Zack Beavers & Nick Borowski

By: Nick Borowski

PHILADELPHIA – Drexel University (1-1) welcomed the University of Pennsylvania (1-3) to the Daskalakis Athletic Center in The Battle of 33rd Street this past Tuesday. Despite going down 15 points, Drexel came back and made it a competitive two-point game, but Penn pulled away and won 64-59.

Penn junior guard Jordan Dingle led the way with 21 points and Drexel junior forward Amari Williams scored 21 points and 7 rebounds.

The Quakers opened the game quickly with an 8-3 lead led by four points from Dingle. A slow start from the offenses changed quickly when each team traded baskets for the next five minutes where Drexel outscored the Quakers 11-8 to cut Penn’s lead to 16-14.

In the last 10 minutes of the first half, the tides began to turn. Dingle, George Smith, and Michael Moshkovitz combined to go on a 9-0 run heading into the under 8-minute media timeout with a 25-14 lead.

After this run, both offenses struggled to score, shooting just 2-8, which led to Penn taking a 27-17 lead into the under 4-minute media timeout.

The two big men, Drexel’s Williams and Penn’s Moshkovitz traded quick baskets. Drexel senior guard Coletrane Washington hit a big 3-pointer to bring the deficit back to seven, but Penn guard Clark Slajchert responded quickly with a midrange basket and assisted on a Lucas Monroe buzzer-beater finish to bring the lead to 33-22.

The teams continued to struggle to score coming out of the break, but Williams broke the dry spell. Continuing to trade baskets, Penn inched out to a 15-point lead.

Drexel vs. Penn - PSD Highlights by Nick Borowski

Penn senior center Max Lorca-Lloyd was fed an easy dunk by Monroe to make the score 44-29. The nearly sold-out crowd was silent. As all Zach Spiker-coached teams do, the Dragons responded.

Out of the under-16 team media timeout, a former walk-on, now scholarship, guard Luke House hit back-to-back 3-pointers, one from the logo, to cut the deficit back to 9. The crowd was immediately back into it when House got them into the game celebrating his shots.

New players for the Dragons, sophomore Garfield Turner and freshman Justin Moore, a local product from Archbishop Wood, lead a 6-2 run and the game was inching closer, becoming a 47-42 game. The crowd was rocking and fans could feel the momentum shifting toward Drexel’s direction.

Unfortunately for Drexel, Slajchert began to catch fire for the Quakers. He hit two straight 3-pointers bringing the lead back to double digits at 55-44.

Drexel responded, again. Washington, Moore, and Jamie Bergens combined for seven points to cut it back down to a six-point game.

After Justin Moore’s free throw, Jordan Dingle turned the ball over to Amari Williams and Williams threw a thunderous dunk down on Penn center Nick Spinoso. The crowd was raucous and willing the Dragons closer.

On the next offensive possession for the Quakers, Penn turned the ball over again and Amari Williams finished at the rim again to make the score 57-55, Penn leading with 1:50 remaining. Penn was forced to use a timeout to stop the bleeding.

Coming out of the timeout, Slajchert continued on his hot streak with a quick 3-pointer and put Penn’s lead to 60-55. Following that big bucket, Justin Moore missed a 3-pointer and put Drexel’s hopes to bed. The Dragons continued fouling and Luke House hit a three with a few seconds remaining.

Penn went on to win 64-59 taking home the Battle of 33rd Street.

Drexel Coach Zach Spiker blamed the lack of production from the free throw line and 3-point line as a big reason why they lost, but he went onto say, “The good thing is that we can change that.”

Drexel welcomes Arcadia on Friday, November 18 at 7:00 PM and Penn travels to West Virginia on Friday, November 18 at 7:00 PM.