Spring Break
No. 23 Virginia ends Drexel's undefeated streak
Mike Mazzeo
Issue date: 11/30/07 Section: Sports
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Unfortunately, the Dragons could not pull off the upset.
Despite leading during the first half, and cutting a six-point second half deficit to just two, Drexel (3-1) suffered its first loss of the season, a 72-58 defeat at the hands of the Cavaliers (4-0) in front of 10,975 fans at John Paul Jones Arena.
Trailing 31-25 at the intermission, Drexel closed to within just two with 17:11 remaining thanks to a pair of scores by Frank Elegar. The first came on a two-handed dunk off an inbounds pass from Tramayne Hawthorne, and the second came off a spinning post move, which he was able to finish with a layup.
However, two was as close as the Dragons would get.
Virginia countered with a 19-6 run of its own increasing its lead to 51-36 with 10:56 left.
Adrian Joseph began the spurt with a jumper and Sean Singletary capped it with a layup, forcing head coach Bruiser Flint to take a 30-second timeout.
Perhaps the biggest shot of the burst came when Mamadi Diane drilled a three from the right wing, which gave the Cavaliers a 42-32 lead at the 13:27 mark.
"In the heat of the game when it was kind of close, they made plays, we made some mistakes, and every time we made a mistake they took advantage of it," Flint said.
At one point, the Dragons trimmed the lead to 10 on a corner three by Gerald Colds; however Joseph answered with a three of his own at 11:31, pushing the lead back to 13.
Elegar topped Dragons scorers with 23 points on eight-of-14 shooting.
Singletary led the Cavaliers with 24 points, despite committing eight turnovers. He dished out five assists and grabbed seven rebounds.
"[Singletary's] a good player," Flint said. "He makes the other guys that much better because they shoot open shots."
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