THINKS THE EAGLES STOLE ONE
Despite playing without forward Chaz Crawford, Drexel raced to its first win at UNC-Wilmington, jumping out to a quick lead and steadily building it for a 66-50 victory, setting up a showdown with Colonial Association-leading Virginia Commonwealth on Saturday.
"We just wanted to come here and win," Drexel guard Scott Rodgers said. "Mostly for our seniors. The team was really hyped for them."
Now 1-5 all-time at Trask Coliseum, the Dragons (15-4, 7-2 CAA) raced to an 11-2 lead before the game was 5 minutes old. The Seahawks (4-14, 1-8) closed to within 16-13 midway through the first half, but Drexel's league-leading defense took over from there, allowing five buckets over the next 17 minutes, 35 seconds.
The 29-10 run wrapped around halftime made it a 45-23 game, and only a late run by the Seahawks kept the scoreboard from showing Drexel's dominance on both ends of the floor.
"We were finally able to not come down here and get our butts whipped," Drexel coach Bruiser Flint said.
Crawford - the CAA's leading rebounder and shot blocker - sat because of a shin contusion suffered in Saturday's victory over Delaware, but Frank Elegar had a career-high five blocks, while the Dragons forced UNCW into an 18-for-64 night from the field.
"We were short a man today, probably the most important player on our team," Elegar said, "and we knew we had to get it done defensively. We just had to stick to the game plan."
Said Flint: "Chaz makes up for a lot of our mistakes, but we play good defense. The other guys play good, too."
The Seahawks' leading scorer, Vlad Kuljanin, and senior point guard Temi Soyebo did not play in the first half because of a coach's decision, and UNCW had four freshmen on the floor for long stretches.
It didn't matter to Drexel.
"Tonight, it was a defensive effort from the whole team," Rodgers said.
The defense was on, and the offense was efficient against a variety of defenses. Elegar had a game-high 17 points, Rodgers added 15, and Bashir Mason finished with 11, leaving him three short of 1,000 for his career.
And while the Dragons made only one field goal in the game's final 11 minutes, they shot 19-for-22 from the free-throw line in the second half, 25-for-30 for the game, this from the league's worst free-throw shooting team (65.9 percent).
"Frank stepped up and made some foul shots. He's usually the key for us," Flint said. "And Scott Rodgers, who never makes any foul shots, he made some tonight. So those guys stepped up."
It all sets up a showdown with VCU at Drexel's Daskalakis Center. The Rams (17-3, 9-0) won, 75-62, at George Mason last night and own a two-game lead in the conference over the Dragons.
"They're undefeated for a reason, because they're good," Flint said. "We know that, and if we're not ready, we're going to lose.''
Said Elegar: "We know it's a big one coming Saturday. I think they got us at home last time; we want to get this one back." *
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