Drexel Outlasts Delaware In Men’s Basketball

PHILADELPHIA, PA. 1/3/20 – The Drexel Dragons, fresh off a conference win, started the new year at home against an old foe. The Dragons and the Delaware Blue Hens met for the 161st time at the DAC.

Drexel guard Camren Wynter, coming off a 30-point performance against UNCW, provided the late game push to give the Dragons a 61 – 55 win over the Blue Hens. Wynter had a game-high 18 points making 8 of 13 from the floor, and added 5 assists. But it was his string of 5 points in the last two minutes that provided the margin of victory for Drexel.

“I knew in the last two minutes when the game was tied that it was my time to put my mark on the game and take over,” said Wynter about his sense of urgency down the stretch. “That’s what my teammates expect out of me and I had to come through for them.”

With the score tied at 48 Wynter hit a jumper putting his team in front. Delaware tied it with 4:14 to play. The game got defensive and no points were scored until Wynter drained a three-pointer at the 1:53 mark. He followed that with a bucket and the Dragons had a 55 – 50 lead. The Hens tried to get back but a steal by Matey Juric throttled the comeback attempt. Drexel closed out the game making 7 of 9 free throws.

Each team had runs, each team matched basket for basket that required physical and mental toughness to earn a victory.

“We knew coming into this game that it was going to be a hard game with two good teams going at it,” Wynter said. “When they went on a run we just tried to keep our heads straight and punch back. That’s what we said in the huddle, keep punching back.”

Credit the Dragons staples, defense and rebounding in getting the win. The Blue Hens total of 55 was their lowest offensive output of the season. The leading scorers; Nate Darling and Justyn Mutts were held to single digit scoring, well below their average of 21 and 14 points. Ryan Allen hit his average of 13 points and Dylan Painter added 10 points. That had impact for Drexel.

“Nate Darling is one of the best shooters in the country and one of the top shooters in our league,” Spiker said. “Of the five looks he had maybe one or maybe two were of good quality. I thought that we really made him work to get good looks., and there were a lot of different guys on him.”

Off the boards the Dragons had a 43 – 27 edge, 19 – 7 off the offensive glass. Drexel forward James Butler tied his career-high pulling down 16 caroms, 7 on offense. He also added 10 points for his 10th double-double of the season and 16th career.

The Dragons improve to 9 – 7 overall and is 2 – 1 in the CAA. The Blue Hens sit at 11 – 5, but drops to 1 – 2 in conference. Drexel prepares for a two-game conference road trip to Towson and James Madison. The team expects more battles and grind it out games as they played tonight.

“It’s a great win for us,” Spiker said. “This is what CAA Basketball is all about; hard, tough nosed, low scoring games.”

Boxscore

Written By: Glenn Papazian

Contact: Glenn@PhillyCollegeSports.com

Drexel’s James Butler Guarding Dylan Painter

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