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Drexel smokes William & Mary in "revenge" match

02/09/2017, 11:04pm EST
By Zach Drapkin

Drexel coach Zach Spiker (above) said the Dragons wanted revenge after taking a beating at the hands of W&M last month. (Photo: Josh Verlin/CoBL)

Zach Drapkin (@ZachDrapkin)
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For Drexel head coach Zach Spiker, Thursday night’s game against William & Mary was about revenge.

After the Tribe shot 63 percent from the floor and scored 108 in the two teams’ tilt at the end of January, Spiker had the rematch circled as a must-win.

“108 has been on our locker room board since we played them,” he said. “I couldn’t write it in bigger letters.”

Naturally, the Dragons wanted to be best prepared to take the Tribe on for a second time, but when their scout team simulated a William & Mary-type system in Wednesday practice, it didn’t go too well.

“We couldn’t stop them. They hit four or five straight threes and I was furious. Everyone was mad. Nothing was going right,” Spiker said. “I think because of that, we had more urgency today.”

Drexel certainly showed more urgency on Thursday night, holding William & Mary to just 61 points in a commanding 79-61 victory at the Daskalakis Athletic Center.

Spiker’s men looked like a completely different team than the Drexel side that turned up in Williamsburg on the 30th.

“We want to show improvement as the season goes along,” Spiker said. “If you were to see us play at William & Mary and you were to see us play tonight, we’d look like a better basketball team.”

The Dragons caught fire right out of the gate on Thursday, starting the game with 11 unanswered points and taking a 30-8 lead 10 minutes in.

That hot start propelled Drexel (9-17, 3-10 CAA) the rest of the way. William & Mary (13-11, 7-6 CAA) cut the deficit to single digits just once, at the start of the second half, but the Dragons held a commanding for the entirety of the game.

The Tribe never held a single lead the whole way through.

Freshman sharpshooter Kari Jonsson led the way for Drexel with 23 points, two shy of his career high, including 11 of Drexel’s first 16 points.

The Icelander knocked down six three-pointers on the night, two more than William & Mary did as an entire unit.

Drexel held the Tribe to four makes in 20 tries from beyond the arc, also surrendering just a 44-percent clip from the field, a vast improvement from game one.

Reigning CAA Player of the Week Daniel Dixon was held to just 10 points on 1-6 shooting from deep as Omar Prewitt led the losing side with 17 points. Jack Whitman added 14 for the Tribe.

The Dragons also forced William & Mary into 13 turnovers, which they turned into 23 points.

“I thought we had a much more focused and efficient effort defensively and offensively tonight,” Spiker said. "I don’t think you go into the game thinking you’re going to hold William & Mary to 4-for-20. They’re the best three-point shooting team in our league.”

Austin Williams had a big night defensively, recording four blocks and a pair of steals, but he was not the only one, as Jonsson had a team-high four takeaways and Sammy Mojica garnered two steals and a block.

It was just as much of a team effort on the offensive end, as five different players were in double figures.

Kurk Lee had 13 points, five assists, and four rebounds, Mojica scored 12 and racked up a game-high six assists, Austin Williams scored 10 points and grabbed eight rebounds, and Rodney Williams registered 10 points and seven boards.

Drexel shot a respectable 46 percent from the field, but that came on 67 field goal attempts, thanks to a seven-rebound advantage under the glass and just seven Dragons turnovers on offense.

“I thought every shot we took, with the exception of really three shots in the first half, was the quality we want,” Spiker said. “We’ve really talked a lot about hunting and finding the right shot, and I thought we did a good job with that.”

The win was definitely refreshing after four straight losses in league play for the Dragons, the most recent two of which, a double overtime loss at Towson and a two-point defeat at Hofstra, came down to the very end.

For Spiker, the results are less critical than his team’s evolution each game.

“It’s important that we not hang our hat on a win or a loss. I thought we were good enough and we’ve improved as a basketball team the last two games we’ve played,” Spiker said. “Obviously we love to win, but our process is about our players making progress and improving.”


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