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Drexel loses fourth straight with another narrow defeat

ZACH SPIKER doesn't appear to be wrong in his assessment of the 10-team Colonial Athletic Association, 17 games into his first season in the league as Drexel's head coach.

ZACH SPIKER doesn't appear to be wrong in his assessment of the 10-team Colonial Athletic Association, 17 games into his first season in the league as Drexel's head coach.

"They're all the same," Spiker said of the games. "They come down to a couple possessions."

Unfortunately for Spiker, his Dragons have been on the wrong side of those possessions more times than not.

"Today was no exception," he said Thursday night after the Dragons dropped their fourth straight, 70-64, on senior night against James Madison at the Daskalakis Athletic Center.

In six losses in February, Drexel has been outscored by only 23 points.

"If you're trying to write a piece about tough luck and excuses, go interview somebody else," Spiker said.

The beat-up Dragons, with two rotation players out and a third - guard John Moran (left shoulder) - injured in the first half, had their largest lead, 50-43, with 10 minutes to play on a Sammy Mojica three-pointer. But James Madison turned up the pressure defensively, crawled back in and finished off Drexel in the last few minutes.

During a critical stretch in the final six minutes, the Dragons missed five consecutive shots, allowing the Dukes to get a lead they never relinquished, thanks to their effort from the free throw line.

"You hate it because it's a loss," Spiker said. "You hate it because you want your seniors to have a positive experience on senior day. It didn't happen."

Drexel honored Moran, Mohamed Bah, Elgin Ford, Major Canady and Rodney Williams before tipoff.

The Dragons led early in the first half, thanks to the play of Williams and freshman point guard Kurk Lee.

Lee and Mojica led the way for Drexel with 18 points apiece.

Williams, who said he's been fighting an illness, finished with 15 points and seven rebounds in his final home game. Fittingly, Williams scored the final basket of the game, a dunk with three seconds left to give the game its final score.

Williams acknowledged he'd been through a lot in his four years. He saw the end of the Bruiser Flint era, the final years of which with teams that could never get healthy enough to get over the hump.

And now he's been the big-brother type to Lee and has been a player Spiker has counted on to usher in a new era of Drexel basketball.

"I don't see this program going anywhere but up," Williams said. "I'm just proud that I could be a part of that first year and help establish the culture."

The year, of course, isn't over yet. Drexel (9-21, 3-14 CAA), which finishes the regular season Saturday at College of Charleston, is likely to draw James Madison (9-21, 7-10) in the play-in round of the CAA Tournament next Friday in Charleston.

There, anything could happen, the Dragons are saying. And if Spiker's on to something, all it would take is a few possessions.

"I'm proud of the guys, and they're fighting," Spiker said. "That's all you can ask for. You can't do much more than that. We're not going to be defined by numbers on the scoreboard. We're going to be defined by how we go about our business and what our process is.

"This senior class, and our entire program, is going through a learning experience. It's not fun. It's not fun for the coaches. It's not fun for the players. It's not fun for the DAC Pack. It's not fun for the administration. But there are benefits, and there will be rewards from it, whether they're short-term next week in Charleston or sometime next year.

"We'll be a better basketball program, and our players will be better, and I'll be a better coach for having gone through this. That's the only way we're going to look at it. We're not going to feel sorry for ourselves."

@Jeff_Neiburg