BOSTON – Once Drexel regained the lead in the second half of Wednesday night’s game at Northeastern, the Dragons were well on their way to another win. They closed out the Huskies in a fashion that one would expect of a conference contender, and it’s the latest example of the Dragons looking like the team they were predicted to be in the preseason.
Northeastern took an early 29-27 lead in the second half, which was their first lead since the first minute of the game. But that lead was short-lived, and once Drexel went up 36-31 on a layup by Frantz Massenat, the Huskies were never within one possession the rest of the way.
“We pride ourselves on defense, so that was really our goal after we got up in the second half,” said guard Damion Lee, who led the Dragons with a career-high 25 points and eight rebounds.
Drexel is the hottest team in the CAA right now, having won ten straight and 16 of 17. The only slip-up in that stretch was at Georgia State just after the calendar turned over to 2012. Since then, they have turned back all CAA challengers, handing George Mason their only loss before last night and beating VCU. They also knocked off the two teams that have defeated them, Delaware and Georgia State, in their second meeting with each.
The Dragons haven’t done this easily, and it’s rarely the case that a team does this easily. The Dragons have had injuries, which was one contributor to their 2-4 start to the season. The most noteworthy one was the off-season knee injury Chris Fouch suffered, which kept the junior guard out for the first four games. Freshman Tavon Allen has missed the entire season with multiple injuries, and he figured to help this team out had he been healthy.
Even though Fouch returned earlier than first thought, he hasn’t played well yet. He’s had a couple of good games, but not a consistent stretch, and he hasn’t shot the ball well. Partly, it’s from the timing of the injury. He missed early practice, which meant no chance to mesh with new teammates, and he barely had any practice before playing. His first game was on November 30, a loss at Saint Joseph’s, and that was two days after he was cleared to play.
Another example of how this team hasn’t made it easy came leading up to Wednesday night. Drexel got off to a fast start on Wednesday night, leading 12-3 in the early going. Damion Lee was the best player on the floor, but then disappeared the rest of the half. Northeastern out-played Drexel the remainder of the half and into the second half, before Drexel turned it around and took control. Lee was a key part of that, starting with an old-fashioned three-point play to break a 31-31 tie and put them ahead for good.
Despite the convincing win, Flint said the Dragons didn’t prepare well. It would be easy to think that a veteran team like this has reached a place where they understand the target on their back as preseason favorites and what it takes to win, but the bottom line on Wednesday obscured that.
“I told them, don’t set yourself up,” said Flint. “We’re going up to a tough place to play, these guys are good in there. They gave us everything we can handle today.”
Still, Flint said there’s a lot to like with the intangibles on this team. The chemistry has been great, as Fouch and Samme Givens aren’t putting up big numbers (and as noted, the former hasn’t played all that well), but they know they don’t need to with this team and have been fine with it because the wins keep coming. The leadership has been very good, and the team plays the way one expects a Bruiser Flint-coached team to play.
Right now, the Dragons are also playing very well when one looks at the bottom line. The preseason favorites are looking that part more and more as they continue to win and in the fashion they did on Wednesday night.
