Missed shots doom winless Dragons
Missed shots doom winless Dragons
PISCATAWAY, N.J. - Remember when Drexel thought last season's poor-shooting blues were solved?
Turns out the Dragons were indulging in some wishful thinking.
Three games into the season, Drexel has shown that it plays with a lot of energy and aggressive defense, but can't overcome poor shooting.
The latest example came last night in a 58-56 loss to Rutgers in a Legends Classic game at the Louis Brown Athletic Center.
Scarlet Knights' fans were excited by the heroics of Rutgers' Gregory Echenique, whose layup at the buzzer over Drexel's Yannick Formbor was the game-winner.
The 6-foot-9, 265-pound sophomore center finished with a game-high 16 points, 14 rebounds and two blocks.
"We knew what they were going to do, because we haven't guarded the kid all night," Drexel coach Bruiser Flint said of defending Echenigue on a set play after Rutgers called a time-out with 1.9 seconds left. "Our plan was don't let him catch it deep on the block, which our guy actually did. He actually made him come catch the ball."
But Formbor never moved his feet. Taking advantage, Echenigue spun toward the basket for the layup.
As a result, the Dragons opened the season 0-3 for the first time since the 1990-91 season.
While giving up the game-winning basket hurt, Drexel was doomed from the start.
The Dragons missed a fistful of easy layups and uncontested jumpers en route to shooting 26 percent against Rutgers (2-0). Drexel made just 3 of 18 three-pointers.
The Dragons are shooting 34 percent for the season. They shot 37 percent last year.
But to its credit, Drexel played with with a lot of grit last night.
The scrappy Dragons kept it close by hustling for loose balls, pulling 44 rebounds and making 19 of 26 foul shots.
With those things going for it, Drexel appeared capable of an upset.
Formbor, inserted when Evan Neisler fouled out with 29 seconds left, came close to forcing overtime.
The 6-8 junior forward's put-back with 12 seconds remaining knotted the score, 56-56. Drexel's celebration was short-lived as Echenigue clinched the victory seconds later.
"We are shooting bad and we are still getting these chances," said Drexel junior point guard Jamie Harris (10 points, five steals and four rebounds). "I guess the best thing we have to do is take it as a learning experience. We got to keep fighting. And I guess we have to get in the gym and get more shots up."
Junior shooting guard Gerald Colds (12 points) was the Dragons' other double-digit scorer.
Note. Senior forward Leon Spencer suffered a severely injured wrist with 4:36 remaining. He didn't return. According to Flint, the junior forward will miss an extended period of time.
Contact staff writer Keith Pompey at 610-313-7081 or kpompey@phillynews.com.
