Drexel drops close one to College of Charleston

CHARLESTON, S.C. - Poor weather and the corresponding traveling logistics resulted in a 12-hour bus ride for the Drexel basketball team before it could take the court against the College of Charleston Cougars on Thursday.

However, both teams played as if they had just stepped off the bus, and that kept things close before the Cougars gutted out a 47-46 Colonial Athletic Association victory at TD Arena.

"The bus ride going back is going to be a whole lot worse than the bus ride down here," Drexel coach Bruiser Flint said.

A back-and-forth game featuring mostly ugly basketball went down to the wire.

Charleston's Willis Hall plucked a deflected shot out of the air and hit a turnaround jumper with 3.8 seconds to play to give the Cougars the lead.

Drexel's Chris Fouch drove the length of the floor but missed a layup at the buzzer.

"I thought there might have been a goaltend, but it wasn't called," Flint said. "But we had a chance to distance ourselves earlier in the game, and we never did. We couldn't make a free throw. Free-throw shooting was the difference.

"I'm not going to make excuses about a long bus ride or anything like that. We could have won this game, plain and simple."

Drexel (13-11, 5-6 CAA) shot 40 percent from the field and was 0 for 9 from three-point range and 12 of 26 from the free-throw line.

The Cougars (13-13, 5-6 CAA) shot 32.7 percent from the field, including 2 for 13 from three-point range, and made 13 of 24 free throws.

Frantz Massenat led the Dragons with 16 points, while Tavon Allen added 12.

Drexel battled toe-to-toe with the Cougars through a sloppy first half, with Charleston's 24-18 halftime lead forged largely on some late theatrics from Canyon Barry, son of former NBA great Rick Barry.

With Charleston leading 20-18, Barry leaned in on a three-point attempt for the Cougars, and although he missed the shot, he drew enough contact to get the foul call. He made 2 of 3 from the line and, in the process, drew some commentary from the Drexel bench that resulted in a technical.

Barry made two more free throws for the 24-18 halftime lead.