City of Basketball Love

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
--

Thursday night at the Daskalakis Athletic Center was a perfect microcosm of the rest of Drexel’s 2015-16 season.

The Dragons played well in stretches on both ends of the floor, staying just ahead of (or falling closely behind) Elon for the first 30 minutes.

And then things fell apart, and the result was another loss. This time it was an 81-76 defeat at the hands of the Phoenix, courtesy of an Elon offense that was lights-out in the second half.

“We didn’t play any defense,” Drexel coach Bruiser Flint lamented afterwards. “We didn’t guard anybody tonight. We didn’t play any defense tonight...we were getting good looks, we made some shots, but we didn’t guard anybody.”

Flint’s Dragons led by 10 points late in the first half, though Elon was able to close it to three at halftime, a hint of what was to come. The Phoenix shot 75 percent (18-of-24) in the second half, including 6-of-8 from 3-point range.

Still, Drexel led by six with under nine minutes to play before Elon went on a 16-2 run that put things away. Senior guard Tanner Samson hit two deep triples to spur the run and help him on the way to a game-high 19 points.

All five Elon players that took a 3-pointer hit at least half of their attempts in a 10-of-17 Phoenix performance from beyond the arc.

“I think we’re a difficult team to guard when we’re hitting all cylinders,” Phoenix coach Matt Matheny said. “What I liked about our run was the shot selection; we’ll give Tanner some freedom, he took a really deep one and made it after he made one, but besides that I thought all the shots were good shots.”

Drexel had one of its better offensive nights of the season, making 51.7 percent (31-of-60) from the floor, with 17 assists against just one turnover.

Freshman Terrell Allen led four Dragons in double figures with 18 points and seven assists against just one turnover, shooting an efficient 8-of-11 from the floor and hitting both of his 3-point attempts. It was his first double-digit scoring performance in five games, and he tied his season high in assists as well.

“I had a sit-down with ‘Rel and I told him stop shooting, be a playmaker because that’s what he is,” Flint said. “I just sat him down, said ‘look man, you’re shooting too many balls. It’s not that I don’t want you to shoot, but you’re trying to take shots instead of just letting it come to you when you’re open.’ Since then he’s actually shot the ball a little bit better and he’s got more assists.”

The improvement of his freshman point guard has been just about the only bright spot this year for Flint, who’s dealt with another year of injuries affecting players up and down his roster, made worse by the departure of Damion Lee to Louisville in the offseason.

The Dragons have won just once since Dec. 22, with their three victories coming over Charleston, Penn and a six-win La Salle program suffering through its own rough season.

“I have a lot of respect for Bruiser, and the way he’s getting his guys to play in a difficult situation is extraordinary,” Matheny said. “Bruiser gets his guys to play really hard, it doesn’t matter anybody’s record, and we told our players that.”

Flint brought up pride when discussing his team’s effort. At this point, pride is just about all that the Dragons have left to play for.

Their 3-23 record is the worst in Division I basketball, and their 1-14 league record has them in dead last in the Colonial Athletic Association. It’s already the worst season in Drexel basketball history by a good margin, even if Flint can somehow rally his troops to win the last four games of the regular season and a game or two in the league championships in Baltimore next month.

“I talk about pride all the time, whether we’re having a winning season or a losing season,” Flint said. “Because in the end, it’s about you and the guy that you’re playing against. That’s what it comes down to, I don’t care what sport you’re in, whether it’s football--I’m a defensive lineup and I’m going against the offensive tackle. Baseball, it’s me against the pitcher. In the end, it’s about you and that guy that’s standing right (there), that’s what it’s all about.

“So you’re going to keep letting guys dominate you or are you going to have a little pride and say I’m going to go back at this guy, I’m not going to let him beat me like that?” he continued. “I talk about that whether we have good teams or bad teams--got to have a little pride.”