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Misfiring Dragons fall to Elon

Drexel had lost six of its previous seven. The last four had been by four points or fewer. Saturday afternoon at the Daskalakis Athletic Center would not turn into another coin flip. Elon closed out the first half on a 26-6 run. The margin never got closer than seven the rest of the way. And that was with 24 seconds left.

Drexel had lost six of its previous seven. The last four had been by four points or fewer. Saturday afternoon at the Daskalakis Athletic Center would not turn into another coin flip. Elon closed out the first half on a 26-6 run. The margin never got closer than seven the rest of the way. And that was with 24 seconds left.

"I would love to see what it might have been like if we'd been able to get it down to five points instead of 10, with how [Elon] excecuted," first-year Drexel coach Zach Spiker said after the 65-56 defeat. "That was one of our better defensive performances, hitched to our worst offensive effort."

The Dragons shot 22 for 63, including 8 for 36 from the arc. The 56 points were their season low. And the third straight game in which they didn't reach 68. Which could have had something to do with the fact that Miles Overton has been out with a wrist injury and that Kari Jonsson, their top three-point threat, missed his second game with an injured leg.

"If you're looking for excuses, find someone else to ask," Striker said.

The Dragons (9-20, 3-13 Colonial Athletic Association) had four possessions midway through the second half to get within single digits for the first time since 25-16, but they couldn't convert. Then, when Elon (17-12, 9-7) - which had beaten them by 20 a month ago in North Carolina - was missing four consecutive foul shots up 10, they got off three three-pointers on one trip. But again, nothing fell.

"We couldn't quite get within striking distance," Striker said. "That's where we are right now. It presents a few challenges.

"We believed in the huddle we were going to make something happen."

Senior big man Mohamed Bah had career highs of 18 points and 12 rebounds in 29 minutes off the bench. Freshman lead guard Kurk Lee had 16 points, 7 boards, and 6 assists. Rodney Williams scored only four on as many shots, a dozen below his team-best average.

Elon, which missed 13 of 27 free throws, got 21 points and eight boards from guard Dainan Swoope.

The Phoenix had dropped three of four. The win was over first-place UNC-Wilmington.

The Dragons will play their final regular-season home game Thursday against James Madison (8-20, 6-9 before Saturday night at Towson). They will finish at Charleston (21-8, 12-4) next Saturday. The conference tournament will also be in Charleston, March 3-6.