Dominick Mejia scored 26 points on 9-for-13 shooting to lead Drexel to an 83-47 CAA victory over Northeastern and snap a four-game losing streak on Thursday night at the Daskalakis Center in Philadelphia, Pa.
The Dragons (13-12 7-7 CAA) raced to an early lead behind Mejia as he netted 12 of Drexel's first 18 points in building an 18-10 lead seven minutes into the contest. Senior Aaron Davis hit a layup with 9:38 remaining to close the Dragon's lead to 18-12, but the Huskies did not hit another field goal for 6:12 when senior Jose Juan Barea converted a layup to bring the game to 29-15. Drexel continued to build its lead for the remainder of the half, as it mounted a 12-0 run down the stretch of the half before Barea converted a shot as the first half closed.
Northeastern shot just 7-for-28 in the half (25 percent), while the Dragons converted 17-of-36 (47.2 percent) field goal attempts. Drexel also forced eight Husky turnovers in the first and outrebounded NU by a 24-17 margin.
In the second half, the Dragons continued to extend their margin, posting a 9-0 run before the Huskies finally got on the board with a layup from junior Bobby Kelly at 16:31. However, the momentum remained in Drexel's favor as it led by as many as 38 in the half, posting the team's highest offensive output of the season.
The Dragons, who averaged a league-low 62.4 points per game entering the contest, also turned in their second-straight 80+ point performance. It was also a solid defensive effort for Drexel as well, as it held an opponent under 50 points for the sixth time this season.
Turning in solid efforts for the Dragons were Chaz Crawford and Frank Elegar. Crawford finished the game with 19 points, including 15 in the first half, while Elegar had 16 points, nine rebounds and three blocks. Kenell Sanchez scored seven on the night with eight boards and four assists, as Drexel connected on 31-of-66 attempts on the night (47 percent).
Barea led Northeastern with 15 points and five assists, while Bennet Davis scored 11 and blocked three shots. Adrian Martinez scored six points off a pair of second half 3-pointers, while Janon Cole came off the bench to grab 11 rebounds in 30 minutes of action. The Huskies' made 17-of-56 shots (30.4 percent), which is its worst shooting performance of the season.
Northeastern returns to action Saturday afternoon as it travels to Hempstead, N.Y. to take on Hofstra at 4 p.m. The game will be broadcast in the Boston area on Fox Sports Network-New England.
Official Basketball Box Score
Northeastern vs Drexel
02/09/06 7:30 at Daskalakis Athletic Center
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VISITORS: Northeastern 13-9 (9-5 CAA)
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
14 Davis, Bennet....... f 5-11 1-3 0-0 0 4 4 2 11 0 0 3 1 25
21 James, Shawn........ f 1-6 1-1 0-2 1 4 5 1 3 0 2 3 0 21
05 Barea, Jose Juan.... g 5-14 2-9 3-4 0 0 0 4 15 5 6 0 1 30
12 Davis, Aaron........ g 1-7 0-2 0-0 3 1 4 0 2 0 0 0 1 31
22 Kelly, Bobby........ g 1-3 0-0 0-0 0 3 3 0 2 1 3 0 1 22
04 Cyprian, Chris...... 0-0 0-0 0-2 0 2 2 1 0 1 0 0 0 7
11 Martinez, Adrian.... 2-6 2-4 0-0 1 2 3 1 6 1 0 0 1 20
15 Farmer, Jeff........ 1-2 0-0 0-0 2 0 2 2 2 0 1 0 0 10
20 Smith, Matt......... 1-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 1
33 Cole, Janon......... 0-6 0-0 4-6 3 8 11 2 4 2 2 0 1 30
50 Washington, Mark.... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 3
TEAM................ 2 1 3 1
Totals.............. 17-56 6-19 7-14 12 25 37 14 47 10 16 6 6 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 7-28 25.0% 2nd Half: 10-28 35.7% Game: 30.4% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 2-10 20.0% 2nd Half: 4-9 44.4% Game: 31.6% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 1-2 50.0% 2nd Half: 6-12 50.0% Game: 50.0% 4
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HOME TEAM: Drexel 13-12 (7-7 CAA)
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
01 Sanchez, Kenell..... f 3-7 1-1 0-0 3 5 8 2 7 4 1 0 1 29
25 Oveneke, Randy...... f 1-7 0-0 0-0 2 3 5 2 2 0 0 0 0 24
15 Elegar, Frank....... c 7-16 0-0 2-4 4 5 9 3 16 0 1 3 2 26
05 Mason, Bashir....... g 0-4 0-2 2-2 0 5 5 2 2 6 1 0 1 33
23 Mejia, Dominick..... g 9-13 5-7 3-3 1 5 6 1 26 5 1 1 0 34
00 Hawthorne, Tramayne. 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2
03 Rodgers, Scott...... 3-5 1-2 0-0 0 2 2 2 7 3 2 0 1 17
11 Radio, Mike......... 0-2 0-2 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2
20 Crawford, Chaz...... 8-12 0-0 3-3 1 4 5 1 19 2 1 3 3 25
21 Rauchbach, Jake..... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
34 Jordan, Bobby....... 0-0 0-0 1-2 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1
40 Hampton, Randy...... 0-0 0-0 1-2 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 2 3
44 Stevenson, Matt..... 0-0 0-0 2-2 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 0 0 3
TEAM................ 2 2
Totals.............. 31-66 7-14 14-18 13 30 43 14 83 20 7 7 10 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 17-36 47.2% 2nd Half: 14-30 46.7% Game: 47.0% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 2-3 66.7% 2nd Half: 5-11 45.5% Game: 50.0% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 5-6 83.3% 2nd Half: 9-12 75.0% Game: 77.8% 1
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Officials: Bryan Kersey, Steve Gordon, Tim Nestor
Technical fouls: Northeastern-None. Drexel-None.
Attendance: 1063
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
Northeastern.................. 17 30 - 47
Drexel........................ 41 42 - 83
Points in the paint-NU 18,DREXEL 38. Points off turnovers-NU 6,DREXEL 25.
2nd chance points-NU 8,DREXEL 10. Fast break points-NU 9,DREXEL 11.
Bench points-NU 14,DREXEL 30. Score tied-0 times. Lead changed-0 times.
Last FG-NU 2nd-00:04, DREXEL 2nd-02:42.
