Late effort by Lee falls short as Drexel loses to USC

DESPITE a valiant 32-point effort from junior guard Damion Lee, Drexel fell to Southern California, 72-70, Friday at the Charleston Classic in South Carolina. The Dragons handled USC early, jumping out to a 40-28 halftime lead and going up, 50-41, with less than 12 minutes remaining in the game.

Running their offense through Lee from the start proved successful, as he was the only Drexel player to make a field goal from the 5-minute mark in the first half until 8:44 remained in the second. When the Trojans began to zero in on Lee, things went south for Drexel.

USC (2-2) quickly marked a comeback, eventually taking a four-point lead, 71-67, with 39 seconds remaining. Lee then nailed a three-pointer and Drexel fouled the Trojans on the ensuing inbound pass. Katin Reinhardt split a pair of free throws for USC to go up, 72-70, with 25 seconds left.

A Drexel turnover led to a fastbreak opportunity for the Trojans, but an errant alley-oop attempt from Trojan Darion Clark (15 points) gave the Dragons life with 7 seconds remaining.

Lee took the final shot, but he failed to connect on a three-pointer.

"I wanted to make a move. I got a clean look. It was too strong," Lee said. "It's disappointing, especially when we had control of the game."

Drexel (0-4) will finish up the tournament in the seventh-place game Sunday at 1:30 p.m, playing the loser of Friday night's Cornell-Penn State game.