City of Basketball Love

Adam Hermann (@AdamWHermann)
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In a nearly-vacant Daskalakis Athletic Center on Sunday, no opinion was muttered with anonymity.

Behind the eastern-facing basket, longtime Drexel fan Calvin Hicks yelled his trademark “Defense!” chant. It echoed through the gym as UNC-Wilmington plodded through a possession late in the second half, ball tossed from the corner to the wing.

The Seahawks, clinging to a three-point lead with two and a half minutes left, had wrestled the lead away from the Dragons with a combination of efficient play in close and deadly accuracy from deep.

As the ball swung around the perimeter, it found Chris Flemmings, who led the way for UNCW with 21 points on 12 shots.

Flemmings rose up from the top of the key, released, and returned to the floor in time with his shot, which found nothing but twine. The metaphorical nail in Drexel’s coffin.

Hicks’ chant ceased.

“Damn,” he said, sighing, resigned.

UNCW’s three star guards — Flemmings, C.J. Bryce, and Denzel Ingram — shot a combined 58.8 percent from the field in the Seahawks’ 77-71 win over the Dragons.

They also pulled down a combined 22 rebounds, just seven fewer than Drexel’s entire team.

“Their guards just out-rebounded our guards,” Drexel coach Bruiser Flint said. “Our guards didn’t play tough underneath the basket.

“We didn’t play with no physicality against them. Even late in the game, when we had to foul [Chuck Ogbodo], you come up with the rebound, it’s a four-point game. You’ve got a chance. We can’t come up with a rebound.”

UNCW finished the game with 43 rebounds to Drexel’s 29.

At first, it seemed Drexel, who earned an extra day to prepare because of Saturday’s prolific snowstorm, had found an offensive plan that worked.

Rodney Williams poured in 11 first-half points, and the Dragons shot 52 percent from the field in the first frame.

But after the break, UNCW’s defensive strategy had shifted. Shutting down Williams, and to a lesser extent Kazembe Abif, was their primary objective. The Seahawks dared Drexel’s guards to beat them with jump shots, and Flint’s shooters weren’t up to the challenge.

“We took bad shots, missed some open ones, and took bad shots that led to baskets down on the other end,” Flint said. “That’s what got them back into the game.

Tavon Allen and Terrell Allen combined to shoot 4-of-20 from the field, missing open looks as UNCW’s defenders focused on protecting the paint.

“[Williams and Abif] have been good, but you know what teams are starting to do now?" Flint asked. "All right, we’re going to take these guys away, and we’re going to make their guards make their plays.

“And our guards haven’t done it.”

As Flint’s shooters continued to fail him, Kevin Keatts’ team didn’t miss a shot in the final 4:19 of the second half, pulling away from the Dragons with five field goals and six free throws.

After the game, Flint recycled a few tired explanations from a gloomy season in University City. They beat themselves. They missed open shots.

He even admitted he was repeating explanations, the echo chamber growing cacophonous.

But then, on Sunday, every Drexel mistake in the DAC echoed a bit louder than usual.