Quick Report: James Madison 78, Drexel 56

Sammy Mojica (above) had a dozen points as Drexel lost its seventh game in a row, 78-56 to James Madison. (Photo: Abigail Hoffer/CoBL)

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
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Drexel’s forgettable 2015-16 season continued with its fourth loss in a four-game home stand and seventh in a row, as James Madison came to Philadelphia and handled the Dragons easily for a 78-56 win.

At First…
The opening five minutes were kind to the Dragons, who hit three of their first four 3-point attempts to cruise out to a nine-point advantage on the visiting Dukes. A Tyshawn Myles layup with 12:49 left in the first half made it a 15-8 game in favor of Drexel, but that’s the last time things looked positive for the struggling program.

Turning Point…
James Madison ripped off the next 11 points, part of a 21-3 run that made it a 25-16 advantage with five minutes remaining in the first half. Drexel missed 10 straight shots during that span, part of a 7-for-27 (25.9 percent) shooting performance by the Dragons in the first half. Another 6-0 run by JMU near the end of the half pushed the lead to 15, and Drexel never again got within single digits.

Standout Stars…
Lower Merion product Yohanny Dalembert, now a junior at James Madison, had one of his strongest games of the year with 15 points and 12 rebounds for just his third double-double of the season. Dalembert, who's struggled with foul difficulties all season--he played just 10 minutes in JMU's last game before fouling out and saw only 13 minutes in the last matchup with Drexel for the same reason--picked up only two in his 20 minutes of action.

Drexel was led by redshirt senior forward Kazembe Abif, who had a double-double of his own with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Abif was one of three DU players in double figures, along with Sammy Mojica (12) and Tavon Allen (11).

Noteworthy Number(s)...
19: The Dragons’ 19th loss of the season equals their total from a year ago with seven regular-season games and the CAA Tournament left to play, and is just one away from tying the program’s all-time record from when they went 12-20 during the 2007-08 season. In addition to being Drexel’s seventh loss in a row, it’s also the team’s 11th during the last dozen games.

28.3: Drexel failed to shoot 30 percent from the floor for the fourth time this season, going 17-of-60 (28.3 percent) from the floor and 8-of-28 (28.6 percent) from 3-point range. That's just one made field goal shy of their worst outing of the year, a 16-for-60 (26.7 percent) showing in a loss to Towson back on Jan. 16.

Up Next...
Drexel (3-19, 1-10) @ Charleston (Feb. 6, 4 PM)
James MAdison (17-7, 7-4) vs. Hofstra (Feb. 7, 3 PM)