(Bradley University) PHILADELPHIA - Drexel (5-4) used first-half 3-point shooting and a heavy dose of Sammie Givens in the second half to hold off Bradley (5-5) for a 73-68 non-conference win Saturday evening at the Daskalakis Athletic Center.
Givens scored all of his team-high 17 points in the second half, while Bradley junior swingman Jake Eastman countered with all of his career-best 17 points in the final 16:40 to fuel the Braves comeback attempt. Sophomore guard Walt Lemon Jr. led all scorers with 18 points.
Drexel used three 3-pointers to open up an 11-2 lead to start the game and a Derrick Thomas putback stretched the Dragons lead to 15-4 with 12:04 remaining in the half. The Braves missed nine of their first 10 shots before reserve guard Jalen Crawford buried an 18-foot rainbow with 11:48 left. Crawford added a second perimeter jumper during a 10-3 surge that got the Braves back within 18-14.
Drexel, which came into the game averaging just 5.8 3-pointers per game, buried its sixth trey of the half when Frantz Massenat hit from the top of the key with 16 seconds left for a 31-24 halftime advantage. While the Dragons mad 6-of-11 3-point field goal attempts in the first half, Bradley was 0-for-5. Drexel also turned Bradley's nine first-half turnovers into a 10-0 advantage in points off turnovers.
Drexel stretched its lead to 42-26 by hitting the Braves with another 11-2 rush to open the second half. An old-fashioned 3-point play by Milos Knezevic with 14:43 left halted the run, but the teams entered into an extended exchange of baskets that still left the Dragons with a 50-37 lead with 11:00 remaining.
Consecutive baskets by Taylor Brown got Bradley to within 50-39, but the team's season scoring leader picked up his fourth foul on the ensuing Drexel possession as part of a Givens 3-point play, launching an 8-2 run that gave the Dragons their biggest lead of the game, 58-41, with 9:24 left.
The Braves made one final push as Lemon (10) and Eastman (12) combined for all 22 points in a 22-7 surge to pull into a 65-65 tie with 2:32 left.
Fouch gave the lead back to Drexel with a driving basket with 1:55 left at the end of the shot clock. Brown missed a paint jumper and Jordan Prosser Derrick Thomas on the rebound. Thomas split the free throws for a 68-65 lead. Consecutive turnovers gave the Braves the ball with 38 seconds left and a chance to tie.
After Bradley's final timeout with 33.2 seconds remaining, Eastman was fouled driving to the basket with 22.4 seconds left, but split the two charity shots, leaving the Braves behind 68-66.
The game became a free throw contest at that point and after Lemon missed a 3-point try with eight seconds left, the Dragons finished off the win when Damion Lee split Drexel's final two attempts with 6.6 seconds left for the final margin. After a 1-for-5 performance from the stripe in the first half, Drexel made 14-of-17 charity shots in the second half, including 5-of-6 in the final 21.8 seconds.
Bradley will make a brief stop at home to host Western Carolina Tuesday (7 p.m.) before returning to the road for a final non-conference test Thursday (5:30 p.m. CST) at #18/20 Michigan (8-2). Tuesday's game against the Catamounts is included in the Braves Package ticket promotion - five midweek games for $50 - and the Early Bird Drawing in the Braves Club Raffle will take place at halftime. Two prizes -- $2,000 and $1,000 - will be awarded Tuesday and the winners will be re-entered for the $25,000 grand prize drawing Feb. 25.
