A strong Drexel defense forced 18 turnovers and limited Northeastern to just 16 points in the second half to give the Dragons a 67-41 victory over the Huskies in CAA men's basketball action on Wednesday night at the Daskalakis Center.
Drexel (13-4, 5-2 CAA) broke open a tightly played first half with a 9-0 run over the final 1:56 of the opening 20 minutes. The run was keyed by senior Bashir Mason who recorded two of his game-high four steals, while senior Dominick Mejia added another as the Dragons turned a two-point deficit into a 32-25 advantage at the break.
Coming out of the half, Drexel added eight more to its run, while holding the Huskies (5-13, 3-4 CAA) scoreless for a total stretch of 9:02 between the two halves. Senior Bobby Kelly stopped the bleeding for NU with a three-point field goal with 14:30 to play, but not before the Dragons had taken a double-digit lead in the game.
The Drexel lead extended to as many as 26 points down the stretch thanks to a 55.1 percent shooting effort for the game by the hosts. Leading the way offensively were Mejia and junior Frank Elegar, who each scored 16, while Mason and sophomore Scott Rodgers chipped in with nine a piece. Elegar controlled play down low, hitting 7-of-9 and helping the Dragons to 36 points in the paint on the night.
The Huskies had difficulties with the Dragons' ball pressure throughout the evening. The team also shot just 6-of-22 in the second half (27.3 percent). Senior Bennet Davis led all NU scorers with 11 points while freshman Matt Janning scored 10 and grabbed seven rebounds. Northeastern did outrebound Drexel by a 31-30 margin, giving the Huskies the rebounding advantage in three straight contests.
Northeastern returns to action on Saturday afternoon when the Huskies visit George Mason beginning at 4 p.m.
Official Basketball Box Score
NU vs Drexel
1/17/07 7:30 p.m. at Philadelphia, Pa.
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VISITORS: NU 5-13, 3-4 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 4-16 0-1 3-4 1 3 4 3 11 3 2 2 0 35
32 Adako, Manny........ f 1-3 0-0 0-0 2 4 6 2 2 1 0 0 0 26
11 Martinez, Adrian.... g 2-6 2-5 0-0 0 2 2 1 6 2 3 0 0 22
22 Kelly, Bobby........ g 2-7 1-4 0-0 0 5 5 0 5 2 5 0 1 37
23 Janning, Matt....... g 5-11 0-3 0-0 3 4 7 2 10 3 4 0 0 38
15 McDonald, Brian..... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
20 Smith, Matt......... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
24 Spates, Eugene...... 2-5 1-3 0-0 2 0 2 4 5 0 1 0 0 15
25 Bataille, Baptiste.. 1-3 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 1 2 0 1 0 0 6
50 Washington, Mark.... 0-2 0-0 0-0 0 2 2 3 0 0 2 1 0 19
TEAM................ 2 2
Totals.............. 17-53 4-16 3-4 10 21 31 16 41 11 18 3 1 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 11-31 35.5% 2nd Half: 6-22 27.3% Game: 32.1% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 2-10 20.0% 2nd Half: 2-6 33.3% Game: 25.0% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 1-2 50.0% 2nd Half: 2-2 100 % Game: 75.0% 2
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HOME TEAM: Drexel 13-4, 5-2 CAA
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
20 Crawford, Chaz...... f 2-4 0-0 2-2 3 8 11 2 6 2 1 3 2 29
23 Mejia, Dominick..... f 6-13 4-7 0-0 0 4 4 2 16 1 2 0 2 30
15 Elegar, Frank....... c 7-9 0-0 2-7 1 5 6 2 16 0 4 0 0 26
03 Rodgers, Scott...... g 4-8 0-2 1-3 0 2 2 1 9 4 1 1 3 34
05 Mason, Bashir....... g 4-6 0-0 1-4 0 3 3 2 9 4 1 1 4 28
00 Hawthorne, Tramayne. 2-5 1-3 0-0 0 0 0 2 5 1 0 1 1 24
01 Jordan, Bobby....... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
12 Hampton, Rob........ 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
14 Lally, Bill......... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
21 Rauchbach, Jake..... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
25 Oveneke, Randy...... 0-0 0-0 2-2 1 1 2 0 2 1 0 0 0 17
34 Feurtado, Lance..... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
42 Tribbett, Kenny..... 1-3 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 4
44 Stevenson, Matt..... 1-1 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 3
TEAM................ 1 1
Totals.............. 27-49 5-12 8-18 5 25 30 11 67 13 9 6 12 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 15-27 55.6% 2nd Half: 12-22 54.5% Game: 55.1% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 1-7 14.3% 2nd Half: 4-5 80.0% Game: 41.7% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 1-5 20.0% 2nd Half: 7-13 53.8% Game: 44.4% 6
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Officials: Ron Tyburski, Gary Pucino, Mark Lindsay
Technical fouls: NU-None. Drexel-None.
Attendance: 2102
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
NU............................ 25 16 - 41
Drexel........................ 32 35 - 67
Points in the paint-NU 14,DREXEL 36. Points off turnovers-NU 4,DREXEL 24.
2nd chance points-NU 16,DREXEL 5. Fast break points-NU 5,DREXEL 18.
Bench points-NU 7,DREXEL 11. Score tied-5 times. Lead changed-3 times.
Last FG-NU 2nd-02:03, DREXEL 2nd-00:50.
