Philadelphia, Pa. - The William and Mary men's basketball team turned in a gritty, tough performance on the road at CAA-leading Drexel and narrowly missed snapping one of the nation's longest winning streaks in 63-61 setback to the Dragons on Valentine's Day. Against one of the countries top defensive teams, the Tribe shot 60 percent in the second half, but a seven-point Drexel run in the final two minutes after W&M took a one-point lead was enough to squeak past a game Tribe squad. W&M fell to 5-23 on the year and 3-13 in CAA, while Drexel, which won its 14th straight, improved to 22-5 overall and 14-2 in league action. 

Freshman guard Marcus Thornton led four Tribe players in double figures with 13 points, including a 3-of-4 effort from 3-point range, to go along with two assists. Sophomore guard Brandon Britt added 12 points on 5-of-7 from the floor and 1-of-2 from 3-point range, while senior Kendrix Brown registered a career-high 11 points on 4-of-7 from the floor and 2-of-3 from 3-point range. Sophomore forward Tim Rusthoven finished with 11 points, eight rebounds and a career-high tying three steals against the Dragons.



The Tribe led early, 6-5, following a cutting lay-up by senior Quinn McDowell off a Matt Rum dish with 15:27 remaining. The Dragons scored eight straight points as a Derrick Thomas 3-pointer at the 13:47 mark gave the Dragons a 13-6 advantage to force a W&M timeout. After three straight points from Rusthoven closed the gap to four, Drexel scored five straight as a Frantz Massenat conventional 3-point play pushed the Dragons' lead to its largest at 19-9 with 7:44 left in the opening half.

The Drexel advantage was nine, 24-15, following another Thomas 3-pointer, before the College closed the gap. Britt drove to the tin for a lay-up, and a long defensive rebound by Brown turned into a fast-break chance. The senior captain converted on a driving lay-up and drew the blocking foul. His free throw at the 3:46 mark narrowed the gap to 24-20.

The margin was still four, 26-22, following a cutting bucket from Rum, when Drexel scored five straight to push the lead back to nine. A Chris Fouch 3-pointer from the left wing gave the Dragons a 31-22 advantage with less than 30 seconds remaining, but Thornton knocked down his first triple of the game at the halftime horn to send the Green and Gold to the locker room facing a six-point deficit.

W&M came out of the locker room with a purpose, scoring on its first four possessions to cut the deficit to three, 37-34, following a Britt free throw at the 16:13 mark. Thornton answered a Damion Lee 3-pointer with one of his own, and his second triple in a matter of two minutes made it 43-40 with 12:28 remaining. After a defensive stop, Britt closed the margin to just one, 43-42, with a driving lay-up.

A Massenat jumper in the lane at the 8:26 mark extended the Dragon lead back to five at 51-46, but the Tribe would not go quietly. W&M ratcheted up the defensive pressure holding the Dragons scoreless for better than six minutes. Offensively, the Tribe scored six straight to take the lead. Rum had a nice take to the rim to cut it to three, before a Thornton lay-up closed the deficit to one at 5:19 mark. With three and a half minutes remaining, Thornton again drove the lane, but missed the chance. Rusthoven though pulled down a monster offensive rebound and his follow-up lay-in gave W&M a 52-51 lead and forced a Drexel timeout.

It was Massenat that took the game over for the Dragons. He muscled in a lay-up at the 2:17 mark and drew the foul. His old-fashion 3-point play put Drexel back on top and ignited a personal seven-point spurt. His free throws with 43 seconds remaining extended the Drexel advantage to 58-52.

The Green and Gold continued to fight as a Thornton lay-up with 27 seconds remaining made it 60-56. On the ensuing inbounds play, the ball was knocked away from a Drexel player, and in the scrum for the ball, it appeared a Drexel player gained possession and rolled over with the ball, but a jump ball was called. With the arrow pointing the way of the home side, the Dragons maintained possession. Givens missed the frontend of the bonus with 23 seconds remaining, before Thornton hit Rusthoven for a lay-up to close the gap to 60-58 with 13 second left.

After a pair of Massenat free throws, Britt hit a deep 3-pointer from the top of the key to cut the deficit to 62-61 with 2.4 ticks on the clock. It was again Massenat who was fouled, but he missed the first of two chances at the free throw line. His second attempt was good to put the Dragons on top, 63-61. Rum's long inbounds pass found McDowell about 30-feet from the hoop, but the Tribe senior was knocked to the floor and unable to get a last-second attempt off as the horn sounded.

Facing a Drexel team that ranked among the top 25 nationally in scoring defense, field goal percentage defense and 3-point field goal percentage defense, the Green and Gold offense was impressive. The College finished the contest at 49 percent (24-of-49) from the floor, including an impressive 60 percent (15-of-25) from the field in the second half. The College outscored Drexel, 32-20, in the paint and hit 7-of-15 from 3-point range (46.7 percent). McDowell finished with seven points and five rebounds, while Rum added five rebounds and two assists.

Drexel shot 42.3 percent (22-of-52) from the floor to go along with a 9-of-22 effort from 3-point range (40.9 percent). The Dragons were also 10-of-13 from the free throw line and held a 29-27 advantage on the glass, though W&M outrebounded the Dragons, 13-9, in the second half. Massenat, who scored 10 of Drexel's final 12 points, led all scorers with 22 points to go along with eight assists. In total, the sophomore point guard had a hand in 43 of Drexel's 63 points. Thomas finished with 16 points, including a 4-of-8 effort from 3-point range, while Givens pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds.

W&M returns to action when it plays its final road game of the regular season at VMI in Sears BracketBusters on Saturday, Feb. 18. Tip-off is slated for 1 p.m. at Cameron Hall. Fans can catch the action over the Tribe Radio Network with Jay Colley, Bill McDonald and Charlie Woollum on the call. The Tide 92.3 FM in Williamsburg is the flagship station of the Tribe Radio Network and can be heard over the Web at TribeAthletics.com.