Photos/Videos: Zack Beavers & Nick Borowski
By: Nick Borowski, Drexel Reporter
PHILADELPHIA - The Drexel University Dragons (13-10) welcomed in the College of Charleston Cougars (21-3) to the Daskalakis Athletic Center Thursday night. Drexel staged a comeback win with seconds to spare thanks to freshman Justin Moore who ended the game 70-69 on a long-range jumper.
Drexel center Amari Williams led the way with 19 points, 12 rebounds, 3 assists, and 4 blocks.
The first few minutes of action were all Williams. He opened with two straight assists with cutters while he drew attention at the free throw line. After those two offensive possessions, he disrupted a Charleston run at the rim, forced the miss, and picked up another assist on a cut from Coletrane Washington. Charleston responded to the opening attacks with 7 points from Dalton Bolon and Ryan Larson. Drexel took an 11-7 lead going into the first media timeout.
Charleston began play with four straight points. Charleston’s big Ben Burnham continued to work at the rim and find good looks. Drexel guard Jamie Bergens responded with four of his own, searching for his shots using effective Williams’ screens to get open looks at the free-throw line. Charleston finally took the lead when big man Babacar Faye hit an open three. Faye then blocked Drexel guard Lamar Oden Jr at the rim and sent Burnham on the fastbreak, forcing Drexel coach Zach Spiker to call time with Charleston leading 18-15.
Williams continued to make his impact felt with another post-up and finish at the rim, but Charleston’s offense refused to be held down. Bolon hit a deep 2 and on the following possession, Larson used a Reyne Smith screen to walk into an open 3-pointer, taking a 23-17 lead with 7:48 remaining in the first half. Drexel had been getting open looks but were not able to finish them.
Drexel University freshman point guard Justin Moore #11, won the game hitting a shot with 3.7 seconds left on the clock - PSD Photo by Zack Beavers
Bolon continued his impressive start with another tough shot in the post over Drexel guard Luke House. The shots that were coming easy to Drexel to begin the game suddenly went missing. The Dragons did a lot of dribbling on the perimeter instead of allowing Williams to work on the free-throw line as a distributor. Williams began to get into bad positions leading to two straight possessions with a turnover. Charleston’s Burnham made the Dragons pay with a nice fadeaway. Drexel point guard Justin Moore finally ended the 5:48 minute scoring drought with a nice pull-up from the baseline. Charleston took a 29-19 lead into the under-4-minute media timeout.
Burnham continued to work, drawing a foul, and hitting both free throws, but House responded with nice work down low, finishing through contact for the tough two. House continued his good play with a cut to the rim forcing Burnham to foul and prevent the open layup. House hit both free throws and cut the Charleston lead down to 8 points at, 31-23. Charleston immediately responded when Faye took the ball from the 3-point line, spun through the defense, and finished at the rim.
Drexel went back to what was successful early in the game, allowing Williams to catch at the free throw line and drive to the rim for two. Bergens stole the inbounds pass and Washington worked off the dribble to get a floater. On the final possession of the half, Williams nearly hit a deep three, but it rimmed out and Charleston took a 35-27 lead into the half.
Both teams felt energized out of the half. Charleston guard Pat Robinson III opened the half with a floater over Williams and a slick no-look pass to Bolon for two. Drexel responded swiftly. The Dragons answered with an 11-4 run led by Moore. Moore was everywhere, being responsible for 10 of the 11 points. Drexel cut the Charleston lead to 43-38 with 16 minutes remaining in the game.
Charleston silenced the crowd with four straight points bringing the lead back to 9. Bolon missed a shot, but big man Ante Brzovic got the weak side rebound and finished the play, pushing the lead to 51-40 and forcing Spiker to call timeout.
Out of the timeout, Drexel got a great look at the rim from House who cut the lead down to 9, but Brzovic answered with two of his own. Bergens penetrated the defense and finished for two to energize the crowd. Williams hit four straight free throws to cut the Charleston lead down to five, with the score at 55-50. The Dragons sprung back to life. Burnham responded with a tough two through contact at the rim, then Larson stole the ball from Williams and hit an open layup, forcing a Drexel timeout with Charleston leading 59-50, with 7:37 remaining on the clock.
Spiker continued his excellence out of the timeout, getting Moore an open layup that was missed but followed up by Williams for a putback dunk. Burnham responded right back with two of his own. Drexel big Garfield Turner was working in the post when Burnham fouled him and picked up a critical fourth foul. Turner hit both free throws and Charleston called a timeout up 61-54 with 6:06 left in the second half.
Following split free throws from Bolon, Drexel had good action on offense to open an easy floater for Washington. Charleston’s Robinson III answered right back with a pair of free throws. Williams bullied his way through the defense and finished at the rim for an easy basket. A missed Charleston 3-point shot allowed Moore to push it down the court and find Washington who hit a 3-pointer to dwindle the Charleston lead to 3, 64-61. The Dragons forced Charleston head coach Pat Kelsey to call timeout.
Drexel vs. College of Charleston - PSD Highlights by Nick Borowski
Post game press conference with Drexel head coach Zach Spiker - PSD Video by Nick Borowski
Charleston’s struggles continued when Robinson III traveled, giving Drexel the ball with a chance to tie. Williams turned the ball over but repaid for it with an amazing block. The ball went out of bounds, so Charleston retained possession. Drexel forward Mate Okros picked up a very questionable foul, leading to Bolon hitting two free throws. Moore responded with a 3-pointer of his own. The Charleston lead continued to shrink. Kelsey was forced to call another timeout with Charleston up 66-64, 2:23 to go.
Bolon hit a tough three out of the timeout that silenced the crowd. Williams responded by making his presence felt in the post, forcing a foul, and hitting both free throws. A Drexel full court press nearly forced two turnovers, but a wild shot from Bolon resulted in an Oden Jr. rebound and a Charleston foul sending Moore to the line. Moore hit both, cutting the Charleston lead to one with 1:03 on the clock. The crowd erupted in defense chants when Williams swatted a ball away, landing back into Larson’s hands. The Dragons then locked into defense and forced a shot clock violation with 13 seconds remaining.
Drexel had one final possession down 69-68 against the top team in the Colonial Athletic Association and a top 30 team nationally. Spiker called a timeout to draw up the final play. House inbounded the ball to Moore who used a high pick from Williams to get to his sweet spot, a midrange jump shot. Moore nailed the shot, and the crowd went crazy.
Drexel took its first lead of the game since early in the first half. Charleston called timeout with 3.5 seconds to go. Inbounding the ball under the net, Ryan Larson catches the ball and gets momentum towards the basket, heaves up a decent look, but ultimately missed the shot and Drexel cemented a 70-69 victory.
Drexel guard Coletrane Washington #0 scored 13 points in the victory over Charleston - PSD Photo by Zack Beavers
Following the game, Moore spoke on the final play of the game.
“My coaches and my teammates trusted me and put the ball in my hands to make a play… you know, that’s big time, whenever you go out there, knowing everybody has your back whether it goes in or doesn’t,” said Moore.
Drexel travels to Monmouth (3-20) on Saturday, February 4th at 2:00. Charleston heads to Delaware (12-12) to take on the Blue Hens also Saturday at 2:00 p.m.