Spring Break
Hawthorne keys Dragons' victory
Mike Mazzeo
Issue date: 1/18/08 Section: Sports
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Hawthorne scored a career-high 23 points helping the Dragons take a 15-point second half lead and Drexel overcame a late Georgia State rally, snapping their three-game losing skid with a 58-51 win Jan. 16.
"It's always good to come and get a win under your belt anyway you can get it," Hawthorne said.
The Dragons (9-9 2-4 CAA) were coming off a two-game road trip in which they lost consecutive games to Northeastern and Towson after suffering a heart breaking 67-63 defeat at the hands of rival Delaware at the Daskalakis Athletic Center.
Hawthorne, who had combined to shoot just 16 percent (4-25) in his last three games was seven-of-12 from the field, four-of-nine from beyond the arc and knocked down all five of his free throws.
"Anytime is a good time to break out of a slump," Hawthorne said. "I just come out there and [my team] just tells me to shoot and take my shot when I'm open, and shots were falling for me today.
Drexel head coach Bruiser Flint had been waiting for Hawthorne's shot to come around for a while.
"It's about time," Flint said. "He's been struggling with his shot. We've just been talking to him about getting in the gym and working on it. When he makes shots we're a different team."
Drexel established its largest lead of 15 with 8:03 to play when Hawthorne converted on a 3-pointer from the right wing, but the Panthers went on a 14-2 run to close within three at the 2:49 mark.
Georgia State (4-12 1-5 CAA) had numerous opportunities to cut the deficit to just one, but the Panthers missed three consecutive shots during one of their final possessions, and Frank Elegar responded with a layup giving the Dragons a 56-51 advantage with 55 seconds remaining.
"We were fine until the last two or three minutes of the game," Flint said. "We started losing our mind a little bit."
Elegar added 14 points, a team-high six rebounds, and a game-high four blocks for Drexel, who did not have another player score in double digits.
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