Williamsburg, Va. - Playing its third game in five nights, the William and Mary
men's basketball team fell to the visiting Drexel Dragons, 64-48, on Monday
night at Kaplan Arena. A competitive
first half of play saw Drexel eventually pull away from the weary Tribe in the
second half behind a strong defensive performance. W&M drops to 4-17 overall and 2-7 in CAA
play, while Drexel improves to 15-5 on the year and 7-2 in league action with
its seventh straight victory.
Freshman guard
Marcus Thornton led Tribe with a game-high 18
points. Also contributing to the
College's effort was sophomore forward
Tim Rusthoven who registered 12 points
to go along with a team-best three assists and three rebounds. Junior guard
Matt Rum led the Tribe's effort on the glass with six rebounds.
Sparking the Tribe in the opening half were Thornton and Rusthoven,
who combined to score 17 of the College's 21 first-half points. At the 15:10 mark two Thornton free throws
gave the Green and Gold an early 9-5 lead.
After Drexel took a 10-9 lead following five straight points, Rusthoven
slipped to basket, received a pass from sophomore guard
Brandon Britt and threw
down the one-handed dunk to up the College back on top.
The College maintained its advantage, 15-14, following a Rum
jumper, but Drexel reeled off a 13-2 run to gain control, pushing its advantage
to 27-17 with 1:45 remaining in the first half.
A Rusthoven made jumper from the elbow cut the Dragon lead to single
digits, 27-19. Rum drained consecutive free throws bringing the Tribe to within
six at 27-21 with four second left, but Drexel's Frantz Massenat connected on a
3-pointer at the halftime horn to send the Dragons to the locker room with a
30-21 lead.
Coming out of the half, senior guard
Kendrix Brown connected
from downtown to bring the Tribe within six at 30-24 less than a minute into
the second frame. The Dragon lead was seven, 34-27, following a Thornton
3-pointer at the 16:05 mark, but Drexel answered with a 12-2 run to push its advantage
to 17. Massenat (5) and Damion Lee (7) combined for all 12 Dragon points on the
spurt as the Dragons took a 46-29 lead 12:39 remaining. The Green and Gold
could get no closer than 12 points the rest of the way.
For the game, the Tribe shot 35.8 percent (19-of-53) from
the floor, but were only able to connect on 4-of-22 from 3-point range. Rounding
out the Tribe's performance was senior forward
Quinn McDowell who scored seven
points to go with four rebounds and two assists. Drexel finished the game
shooting 50 percent (24-of-48) from the floor, while hitting on 6-of-14 from
downtown. As a team, the Dragons blocked 11 shots. Dartaye Ruffin paced Drexel
with 18 points and five boards, while Lee chipped in with 17 points to go with
six rebounds. Massenat added 11 points and six assists.
W&M will hit the road on Thursday, Jan. 26, to take on
the James Madison Dukes. The Green and
Gold will be vying for the season sweep of JMU as the College defeated JMU,
68-61, on Jan. 4 in Williamsburg.
Tip-off from Harrisonburg is scheduled for 8 p.m. and the game will be
televised on Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic and Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia. Tribe fans can also catch the action
over the Tribe Radio Network with Jay Colley on the call. The Tide 92.3 FM in
Williamsburg is the flagship station of the Tribe Radio Network and the broadcast
can be heard on the Internet at TribeAthletics.com.
