City of Basketball Love

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin) &
Alex Bonner (@abonn610)
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After a one-point loss to Saint Joseph’s on Friday, Drexel coach Bruiser Flint told his team that foul shooting would be of the utmost importance.

“I told them, ‘you’ve got no way of winning if you just step to the line and you miss all your foul shots,’” the 16th-year head coach said.

It only took him one game to be proven right.

Against High Point on Wednesday night, Drexel got to the line 28 times, and made only 14. Three of those misses came on the front end of one-and-one opportunities. They shot worse from the foul line (50 percent) than they did from the floor (54.8 percent).

And after High Point left Philadelphia with a 75-66 win, it was those missed freebies that were foremost on Flint’s mind.

“We got to the line and we just missed them,” Flint said. “We shot 28 foul shots, we can’t complain about that, shot more than they did. Everybody’s calling fouls, you’ve got to make them.”

If it wasn’t for senior wing Tavon Allen having a career night from 3-point range, hitting his first six triples as he went for 21 points, the final deficit could have been much worse. The loss drops to Drexel to 0-2 on the season.

The biggest culprit in the Dragons’ foul shooting woes was their forwards. Senior Kazembe Abif and junior Rodney Williams, Drexel’s starting frontcourt, were a combined 1-of-7 from the charity stripe. Freshman guard Terrell Allen was just 9-of-15, getting almost all of his 11 points at the line.

The Panthers (2-1) shot 15-of-23 (65.2 percent) of the line--not stellar by any means, but good enough.

“We didn’t make our foul shots and they made them when they needed them, at the end,” Flint said.

In addition to struggling from the free throw line, Drexel’s forwards also dealt with foul difficulties of their own.

Two Dragon big men, Austin Williams and Mohamed Bah, finished with four fouls apiece, while Abif had three of his own. Rodney Williams picked up two fouls in the first four minutes of the game, and was limited to 19 minutes total before fouling out with 3:07 to go.

It’s no coincidence that when Williams was no longer in the game was when High Point took advantage, going on a 22-8 run after he went to the bench in the first half and a game-clinching 11-2 run to win it after he fouled out.

“It was big, Rodney Williams going out early was huge,” High Point coach Scott Cherry said. “When he went out early in the first half, we (were) down and all of a sudden we came back and took the lead...it felt like every single one of their guys in the frontcourt were all in foul trouble, so it was hard for them to get a flow.”

While Drexel’s frontcourt struggled, High Point senior John Brown showed why he’s been one of the best players in mid-major basketball over the last few seasons. Brown, a 6-8 forward who averaged 19 ppg as a sophomore and junior, finished with 23 points on 8-of-13 shooting, adding in nine rebounds and two steals in 33 minutes of work.

Adam Weary, a Panthers’ senior guard, had the same shooting numbers for 18 points.

--Josh Verlin

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Allen experiences some growing pains
After Terrell Allen’s debut game against Saint Joseph’s in which he scored 18 points and dished four assists, Flint warned the media not to “anoint” his freshman point guard. The DeMatha (Md.) alum was sure to have some growing pains, especially given his being thrown into the starting role.

After all, this is a coach who’s started a true freshman at point guard each of the last three years, and though Allen might be the most college-ready of that group that doesn’t make him the next Melo Trimble.

And so after Allen had a much quieter 11 points--mostly on foul shots--on Wednesday night, Flint spoke to his new lead guard about how different life can be at the next level.

“I told him, I said ‘welcome to college basketball, someone watched you on tape,’” Flint said. “They didn’t want him to get ahead and get in the lane and do all those things like that.”

Still, Allen was able to finish with four assists against two turnovers in 38 minutes of play, and though he wasn’t quite the offensive force he was in game one he was far from an embarrassment.

“When we needed to, he got the ball to guys that he was supposed to get them to, that’s not a problem,” Flint said. “He learned today that you know what, those guys didn’t want him to get it on the run so they played him a little differently than the last game and people are going to play him that way.” --Josh Verlin

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Drexel’s injury woes return
The injury bug seems to have bit Drexel again Wednesday when news broke that redshirt sophomore point guard Major Canady has been ruled out for the entire 2015-16 season (knee), the second consecutive season he’ll miss with an injury. Ahmad Fields, another redshirt sophomore, has also been ruled out (knee inflammation) and has no timetable for his return.

Fields, a 6-3 shooting guard in his first year of eligibility at Drexel after transferring in from Utah, will definitely not play on Nov. 21 against Monmouth, according to Flint. His status is unknown for the Dragons’ trip to the Great Alaska Shootout the following weekend.

This puts head coach Bruiser Flint in a tough situation, shortening the amount of guards in his rotation by two. This leaves him with Tavon Allen, Terrell Allen, Rashann London, and Sammy Mojica as his only four perimeter players for the time being.

Tavon Allen, a 6-foot-7 senior, stepped up Wednesday with 21 points, however, Flint will be looking for more production from guys like Mojica, a sophomore shooting guard. As a freshman, Mojica averaged 6.3 points per game, but only scored two points in Drexel’s opener against St. Joe’s and four against High Point.

“I thought (Mojica) had a great preseason and scrimmages, I don’t know what the deal is to be honest with you,” Flint said. “Without Ahmad out there, we can’t have him play only 16 minutes, we don’t have enough people.” --Alex Bonner

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