Allen scores 33 in Drexel loss

Six days before Saturday's game against Hofstra, Drexel coach Bruiser Flint sat at the podium after the Dragons' fourth straight loss - a streak that reached five Thursday - and couldn't help but smile when asked about the inconsistency in the play of his leading scorer, senior Tavon Allen.

Saturday evening, against a team tied atop the league standings, Allen showed what consistency might have looked like for this year's Dragons.

Too bad his effort was wasted.

Allen scored a career-high 33 points on the day he was honored before the game for becoming the 35th Drexel player to reach 1,000 points, and the Dragons let a lead slip away in a 70-64 loss at the Daskalakis Athletic Center.

Drexel (3-18, 1-9 Colonial Athletic Association) led for the first 32 minutes, 20 seconds, but Hofstra came roaring back. A 15-3 run gave the Pride their first lead of the game. The tide had officially turned and Drexel lost for the sixth straight time.

Allen, who scored 20 points in the second half, buried a three-pointer to tie the game at 64 with 1:21 to play. But Drexel big man Rodney Williams was whistled for his fifth foul at the other end and Philly native Juan'Ya Green put the Pride ahead with a pair of free throws.

Allen then dribbled into three defenders with the shot clock winding down and turned the ball over with 40 seconds to play, allowing Hofstra two more free throws and a lead it wouldn't relinquish.

Kazembe Abif (11 points) and Sammy Mojica (10) joined Allen in double figures.

Green and fellow Philly native Ameen Tanksley led Hofstra (16-6, 8-2) with 15 points apiece.

The Dragons swarmed the Hofstra starters in the first half - all five had entered the game averaging more than 10 points. A 12-4 run over a stretch of just 2:37, capped by a Mojica three-pointer, put the Dragons ahead, 27-16, with 5:37 to play in the first half. But an 8-3 run by the Pride cut the Drexel lead to 30-24 at halftime