Lee leads Drexel to win over College of Charleston

Drexel coach Bruiser Flint's message for his best player never changes.

"Offense is about confidence," Flint said. "Damion Lee, if he misses a few, he's going to keep on shooting. That's all about confidence. You've got to be ready to shoot the ball."

Lee was ready Saturday at Drexel's homecoming, pulling the trigger on a huge three-pointer that was the difference in the Dragons' 53-51 victory over the College of Charleston at the Daskalakis Athletic Center.

Drexel trailed for almost the entire game, but Lee - who led the Dragons with a game-high 21 points - drilled the jumper with 17 seconds to play that put Drexel ahead, 52-51.

"The play was an isolation play," Lee said. "They had been running their big man out to me the whole game. This time he was a little bit slow."

Charleston had an opportunity to win the game after Drexel's Mohamed Bah missed the back end of a one-and-one. But Canyon Barry's end-to-end drive resulted in a short jumper that lipped off the rim as time expired.

The leading scorer in the Colonial Athletic Association with 20.6 points per game, Lee needed to be confident. Shortly before he nailed the game-winner, he committed what could have been a costly turnover with 1 minute, 12 seconds remaining and the Dragons trailing by 51-49.

But the Dragons, who held the Cougars without a field goal for the final 3:04, pulled out the win.

Lee was one of three Dragons to pull down five rebounds, and he also finished with three assists. Tavon Allen scored 14 points, and Sammy Mojica came off the bench to add 10 points and grab five rebounds.

With the victory, Drexel improved to 5-14, 3-5 in the CAA. The Cougars, paced by Barry (16 points and six rebounds), fell to 6-15, 1-7.

Drexel won despite a poor shooting performance and an inability to defend the perimeter. The Dragons, who made only five field goals in the first half and finished the game shooting just 15 for 44 (34.1 percent), saw the Cougars connect on 9 of 13 (69.2 percent) from behind the arc.