CAA MEN'S BASKETBALL RECAP - FEB. 2
Drexel 97, Towson 55
Box Score
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. - Drexel freshman Chris Fouch scored 28 points as the Dragons routed Towson, 97-55, in the Daskalakis Athletic Center. The Dragons recorded their second highest scoring total ever under Bruiser Flint as they cruised to their biggest victory of the season and improved to 8-4 in CAA play and 13-11 overall. The Tigers fell to 5-17 and 2-10 in league play.
Fouch was 7-for-9 from the floor and connected on 6-of-7 three-point attempts. Fouch was one of eight players to score at least eight points as the Dragons scored 63 bench points in the win. Freshman Derrick Thomas chipped in with 12 points, five rebounds and five assists.
Drexel led by just one in the early going but went on a 13-1 to take control of the game. Gerald Colds and Fouch made three-pointers on back-to-back possessions. After a Robert Nwankwo free throw, Leon Spencer scored on a short jumper and Fouch hit another trey to give the Dragons a 13-point lead. They went to intermission ahead 47-30 and opened the second half with a 19-2 run.
The Dragons made a season-best 12 three pointers in 24 attempts. Colds, Thomas and Shannon Givens all made a pair of three-pointers. Samme Givens led the Dragons with 10 rebounds. It was the sixth time in the last eight games that Givens had at least 10 boards. The Dragons outrebounded the Tigers, 45-32, and had 19 offensive boards.
Shannon Givens, who played 26 minutes as Jamie Harris was saddled with early foul trouble, scored eight points and had three assists. Kevin Phillip was solid off the bench, recording career-highs with nine points and nine rebounds. Samme Givens, Yannick Formbor Colds and Spencer also scored eight points.
Towson was led by Isaiah Philmore who scored 12 points. He was the only Tiger in double figures and also led the team with six points. Calvin Lee and Jarrel Smith each added eight points.
Drexel is back in action on Saturday at the Daskalakis Athletic Center. The Dragons host first-place George Mason at 4 p.m.
Northeastern 67, Delaware 51
Box Score
NEWARK, Del. - The Northeastern University men's basketball team connected on eight three-pointers and shot 53.3 percent from three-point range and held Delaware to 30 percent shooting as the Huskies squashed the Blue Hens 67-51 Tuesday at the Bob Carpenter Center in Newark, Del.
Northeastern (15-8, 10-2 CAA) has now won 13 of its last 14 games and has beaten Delaware (6-17, 2-10 CAA) 11 consecutive times, dating back to the program's arrival into the Colonial Athletic Association. Depending on Wednesday's CAA contests, NU will at the very least be in a tie for second place.
The Huskies shot well from all facets of the game, going 50 percent (22-for-44) from the field, 53.3 percent (8-for-15) from behind the arc and 78.9 percent (15-for-19) from the free throw line. NU has now shot 50 percent or better in six of its last eight games and is 8-1 this season when doing so.
Delaware's Jawan Carter led all scorers with 30 points on 8-of-15 shooting, but the Huskies held the rest of the Blue Hens to 7-for-35 (20 percent) from the floor. Matt Janning led Northeastern with 17 points, Chaisson Allen added 15, Manny Adako chipped in 10 on 5-of-5 shooting and Nkem Ojougboh produced nine points and 12 rebounds.
The first half saw plenty of three-pointers and very few points from Delaware players not named Jawan Carter. Janning started the game with a pair of triples, including a deep one from NBA range at 18:05. Alwayne Bigby followed up by stealing the ball from Alphonso Dawson and dunking it home to put Northeastern on top 8-0.
Carter then single-handedly brought the Blue Hens into the game. He started his three-point barrage at 16:14, then was fouled on a three-point attempt and converted all the free throws at 14:43. After Allen banked home a three-pointer, Carter came right back with another trey before Janning answered with his third three-pointer of the half at 13:28, making it 14-9 Northeastern.
After a brief scoreless period, both teams came back with two more threes, one by Allen and one by Carter as the Huskies led 17-12 at 10:17. Through that point, all but one of the game's field goals were three-pointers and all of Delaware's points came via Carter.
At the 5:37 mark, Delaware closed to within three after a pair of Adam Pegg free throws, but NU then went on a 9-2 run to open up a double-figure lead. Janning finished the run with a jumper after creating space from his defender with a fake, putting the Huskies on top 28-18 with 1:14 left.
With 3.9 seconds remaining in the half, Dawson's long jumper was an airball that went out of bounds. Mathiang Muo then threw a baseball pass to midcourt. Janning was fouled in the process of catching the ball. He hit both free throws and sent the Huskies into the locker room up 32-21. He had 15 first-half points, the most for him since scoring 17 against William & Mary on Jan. 3, 2009.
In the second half, Carter kept making his shots for Delaware, but no one else was contributing. With the score at 43-33 in favor of NU, Baptiste Bataille, who tied a career high in assists, nailed three-pointers on back-to-back possessions, the second one coming with no one guarding him as he dribbled down the court after grabbing a defensive rebound.
The Huskies went up 17 before a mini Delaware run awoke the crowd and got the deficit to 13, 52-39, with 5:31 to play. However, the Huskies left no doubt as to the outcome with a dagger 8-0 run that was finished by a Janning-to-Ojougboh alley oop, a UD missed jumper and then an Adako layup underneath the basket from Ojougboh. The Huskies took their largest lead of the game (21 points) at 4:08, 60-39.
Northeastern is back in the Mid-Atlantic region this Saturday when the Huskies clash with Hofstra at 4 p.m.