By Darren Sands
PHILADELPHIA – The city’s skyline was dressed in Eagle green and silver on this weekend-and Saturday’s game at Drexel University certainly had all the ingredients of a Super Bowl pep-rally. A Drexel victory would have moved them into a third place tie in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) standings whereas an Eagles’ win would have propelled a whole region into a state of euphoria.
The folks at Drexel were not shy about Super Bowl innuendo either. During one of the many media timeouts a child ran onto mid-court to join the Philadelphia Phillies’ mascot, the Phillies Phanatic. The young boy pulled out a Donovan McNabb jersey and started jumping up and down with the Phanatic-a scene that energized the Drexel crowd, and inspired a spirited “Fly, Eagles Fly.”
The last meeting between these two teams was the first game back for Wendell Gibson since his season-ending knee injury last season in a game against, yes–Drexel. Gibson scored 18 points, and tied a career high with 11 rebounds in the overtime thriller the Pride eventually lost.
The same fate bestowed the Pride, which lost 70-52 at the Daskalakis Athletic Center.
The Pride went right to Gibson, and he scored the first basket of the game. Drexel came out in rhythm, however, and scored its first points of the game on a three-pointer by senior guard Jeremiah King. Despite Sean Brooks’ exit due to early foul trouble, Drexel was lights out. It used a 14-0 run to jump out to a 21-6 lead, capped by a Dominick Mejia three-pointer with 12:32 left in the first half. At least 15 points separated the Pride from its opponents throughout the game and it was never able to recover from the Dragons’ fast start. The Pride dropped to 14-7 (6-6 CAA) while Drexel improved to 12-8 (8-4).
Transition baskets seemed to be the key to the little offense there was early on. Loren Stokes hit a medium-range jumper with 12:20 remaining in the first half to pull to within 15 after Drexel had been up by as much as 20.
The game resembled the teams’ prior match-up just 28 days earlier at the Hofstra Arena. Drexel coach Bruiser Flint was determined not to see a repeat performance. At halftime, Flint reminded his team that the Pride overcame a 15-point halftime deficit to force overtime.
“When you have guys that can shoot anything is possible,” Drexel’s Phil Goss said. “So coach just told us to stay focused on defense.”
The Pride’s energy increased dramatically as it switched to a full-court press -a move that resulted in the Pride actually outscoring Drexel 33-31 in the second half. Loren Stokes, Antoine Agudio and Carlos Rivera each watched as Jorge Lebron and junior-transfer Kenny Harris played considerable minutes in the second half. Harris had three rebounds and one block in 10 minutes of play, but his numbers don’t reflect the hustle and energy he brought to the floor.
Drexel had solid ball movement throughout the game. Drexel guard Phil Goss showed why he was chosen to the preseason all-CAA first team, leading the Dragons with a team-high 16 points. Sean Brooks got caught up in early foul trouble and was never really a factor. For the Pride, Antoine Agudio had a team-high 11 points, followed by Loren Stokes with 10.
Drexel scored 22 points off 15 Pride turnovers-too much against a Drexel team that distributed the ball well and has a balanced scoring attack which registered three starters in double figures.
Antoine Agudio claimed his seventh Colonial Athletic Association Rookie of the Week award this week for his consistent play for the Pride. (Photo Courtesy Athletic Dept.)