Skip to content
Link copied to clipboard

Drexel turned back by High Point

Costly fouls, other miscues keep Dragons from picking up their first win of the season.

THOSE WHO DON'T follow college hoops might have figured High Point, Drexel's opponent Wednesday night, was a cupcake foe.

Incorrect.

The Panthers (2-1) have won or shared the last three Big South Conference titles. John Brown, their 6-8 senior, has a resume highlighted by more than 1,700 points, 600 rebounds and 100 each of assists, blocks and steals. Brown and his squad lived up to their billing by pulling away from Drexel in the closing minutes for a 75-66 victory at the Daskalakis Athletic Center.

Drexel (0-2) trailed most of the second half, but tied it twice, the second time with four minutes, 12 seconds remaining on Tavon Allen's sixth three-pointer of the game. Regrettably for the Dragons, they scored only ne more field goal in the game. They also committed three offensive fouls in the closely called game down the stretch.

Drexel outshot High Point from the field, 54.8 percent to 46.7, but the Dragons struggled at the foul line (14-for-28). Freshman point guard Terrell Allen shot only 9-for-15 from the line.

"I told our team after the St. Joe's game (82-81 loss to open the season), the way (officials) are calling games, if they miss foul shots, there's no way they're winning," Drexel coach Bruiser Flint said.

With 26 personal fouls called on Drexel, High Point made 15 of 23 free throws. The Panthers were whistled for 24 personal fouls.

Flint also attributed the loss to lack of execution.

"Every time we needed to make a play, somebody went to the wrong place," Flint said, his light-blue shirt soaked with perspiration. "If we keep doing that we're going to frustrate ourselves. A lot of that is concentration. Seventeen turnovers didn't help."

Tavon Allen led Drexel with 21 points (six of eight threes).

Brown paced High Point with 23 points, followed by Adam Weary with 18.

Brown, a lefthander who wears dark-rimmed eyeglasses, scored eight consecutive points at the end of the first half to give High Point a 40-32 halftime advantage. He opened the second half with an alley-oop jam as the lavender-and-white-uniformed Panthers took a 10-point lead, their largest of the game.

A few minutes later, Tavon Allen connected on three treys in a row for a tie at 50. Allen tied it again at 64 with 4:12 left. But Brown converted two free throws and Haiishen McIntyre, a senior guard from Harrisburg, made two more free throws, putting High Point up by eight with1:34 to go.

A floater along the baseline by Terrell Allen trimmed High Point's lead to two with 1:16 left. Then Lorenzo Cugini, a 6-7 senior, stuck a dagger in the Dragons' hearts by hitting a three-pointer from the left corner with 59 seconds remaining. McIntyre's two free throws and a layup by Brown closed the scoring.

Next for Drexel is Monmouth Saturday afternoon at the DAC. All Monmouth did in its opener is win at UCLA in overtime.

Drexel injury woes

Redshirt sophomore guard Major Canady will have season-ending knee surgery soon. He missed all of last season with an ankle injury. As a freshman, the 6-4 Canady started 14 of the Dragons final 15 games, averaging 2.1 points . . . A knee inflammation kept guard Ahmad Fields, a transfer from Utah, from playing.