Towson University came to Philadelphia to play the Drexel University men’s basketball team Feb. 8. When the Dragons played at Towson earlier in the season they lost by 22 points. Riding on the strength of a four game win streak this time around, the game was much closer as it went into overtime. Unfortunately for the Dragons, they lost to Towson again 94-92. The Dragons could not contain Towson senior Mike Morsell who scored an impressive 31 points, including four three-pointers. Drexel also had trouble guarding sophomore Zane Martin. The Philadelphia native finished with 25 points, four rebounds and four assists. On a positive note, Tramaine Isabell had another outstanding game for the Dragons as he finished with 32 points, seven assists and six rebounds. Kurk Lee also had a strong game as he finished with 20 points and three steals. Major contributions also came from unexpected Dragons such as Alihan Demir who finished with 18 points and eight rebounds.
The Dragons proved they were here to play with a strong first half. They jumped out of the gate to start the game as they had a six-point lead within the first seven minutes of the game. The crowd and the players were fired up as Drexel came into this game as the underdogs. The crowd roared as Drexel ended the first half with a big dunk from Tyshawn Miles.
The rampage on Towson continued in the second half as Drexel stretched their lead out to 18 points with 11 minutes to go in the game. Unfortunately, some of the same issues that have plagued the Dragons all season continued as they turned the ball over seven times in the last 11 minutes. Drexel also struggled with second chance points as they only managed to have 14. Townson went on a 17-5 run in the last five minutes, and Morsell’s free throw with 25 seconds left was enough to send the game to overtime.
In overtime it was a close battle until the end. It was a battle of the stars as Tramaine Isabell scored seven of Drexel’s nine points and Mike Morsell scored eight of Towson’s 11 points. Unfortunately, in a last second effort Isabell’s layup fell short as the clock hit zero. This crushing defeat ended the Dragons’ chances of continuing their impressive four game win streak.
The disappointment of the Dragons’ near upset over Towson carried into Drexel’s next game Feb. 10 when they traveled to Charleston, South Carolina, to play the College of Charleston. This game was never going to be an easy task, given that Charleston is ranked first in the Colonial Athletic Association with a record of 20-6 overall and 11-3 in the conference. Drexel never was able to keep up with the firepower of Charleston as they never managed to gain a lead. Charleston scored an impressive 20 points of turnovers and Drexel only scored three.
Charleston Junior Jarrell Brantley was nearly unstoppable in this one as he scored 30 points on 66 percent shooting. Drexel’s leading scorer was Isabell who finished with 17 points and four rebounds.
After a rough start to January the Dragons have gone 4-2 in their past 6 games. It is not a shame that the Dragons lost to the best team in the league, Charleston. Drexel has four games left of the regular season to end on a strong note. If Drexel can win the rest of their games they can become .500 in the conference.
Unfortunately, they lost in a tough matchup against the No. 2 seed Northeastern University Feb. 15 in Boston. The team will travel to play Hofstra University Feb. 17.