The Triangle

Issue date: 11/21/08 Section: News

Media Credit: Karl Kuchs

Media Credit: Karl Kuchs

Even though "The Battle of 33rd Street" had shifted its venue just four blocks away, the intensity remained the same.

It was still a "battle" in every sense of the word; a battle for every point; a battle for every rebound; a battle that came down to free throws; a battle that came down to the final seconds; and a battle that ultimately went Drexel's way.

Scott Rodgers and Tramayne Hawthorne each scored 13 points, Zack Rosen missed a pair of crucial free throws in the final seconds and Brennan Votel's desperation hook shot fell short right before time expired as the Dragons escaped with a 66-64 win over Penn in their season opener, a rare Tuesday morning affair at the Daskalakis Athletic Center, Nov. 18. It was the first time since the rivalry began in 1920-21 that a game was played at the DAC. The previous 20 meetings took place at the Palestra.

"We finally got one [a win against Penn playing] in our own building," Drexel head coach Bruiser Flint said. "Anyone that didn't think that makes a difference didn't watch the game."

The Quakers (0-2), who decided to make the short trek by walking instead of taking the bus, were met with boos from a crowd of over 2,500 from the outset.

"I think you got a chance to see the environment," Flint said. "That's the thing. The fans did an unbelievable job. The cherry on top was the win."

But while Drexel (1-0), which had not hosted a city school in the past 16 years, did prevail in the end, it was a grind down to the last second.

The Dragons who, thanks to the combination of Hawthorne's perimeter shooting and Rodgers's driving layups, had established a 10-point second half lead - only to watch it evaporate and climb back up to eight again - were up 65-63 when Rodgers headed to the free throw line after being fouled with 13 seconds remaining.

He connected on his first attempt, but missed his second as Drexel clung to a three-point advantage.

On the ensuing Penn possession the ball went to Rosen in the left corner. The freshman point guard hoisted up a one-handed three but was fouled by Hawthorne with 3.6 seconds left, meaning the Quakers would have a chance to tie.

"That's a call that is really out of my hands," Hawthorne, who added six rebounds, said of the controversial foul. "The ref made the call. We just were praying he'd miss one so we could get a rebound."

Rosen missed the first, made the second and then intentionally missed the third. However, the rebound was pulled down by Penn forward Cameron Lewis. Lewis opted to pass to Votel rather than going up himself, and the senior's desperation hook shot was an air ball right before time had elapsed.

"I had a good [shot] opportunity," Votel said. "It just didn't go."

Sophomore point guard Jamie Harris added nine points, six rebounds and four assists for the Dragons, while Gerald Colds had eight points and freshman Samme Givens scored seven points and pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds.

Senior forward Kevin Egee had a game-high 18 points for the Quakers, while Votel added 17 points and nine rebounds. Rosen finished with just three points. However, he did have eight assists, committed no turnovers and grabbed seven rebounds.

Both teams were plagued by nearly identical, abysmal shooting all game.

Drexel shot 37.7 percent overall, 26.3 percent from three-point range (5-19) and 46.4 percent from the free throw line (13-28), while Penn shot 37.3 percent overall, 25 percent from three-point range (5-20) and 53.1 percent from the free throw line (17-32).

Tyler Bernardini, who led Penn with 26 points against No. 1 North Carolina, struggled his way to 14 points on 4-of-15 shooting.

"Tyler is a good player for us, but the way they played him [physically] is what bothers him the most," Penn head coach Glen Miller said. "They were physical on all of our cutters and those weren't being called. We needed to adjust to the physicality of the game and we never did."

The Dragons saw their double-digit second-half lead disappear after Bernadini briefly got hot and led a Penn surge that knotted the game at 44 with 11:16 remaining. But after both teams misfired on back-to-back possessions, Hawthorne came up with a rebound and sent a half-court outlet pass to a sprinting Kenny Tribbett who laid it in to put his team up by two.

"We call him [Tribbett] big smooth," Hawthorne said. "He likes to make those plays."

Hawthorne followed with a little razzle-dazzle of his own, creating a steal and taking it coast-to-coast, dribbling behind his back before scooping in a layup while he was fouled as Drexel scored nine of the next 10 points to extent to a 53-45 cushion and never relinquished its lead the rest of the way.

The Dragons led 12-11 at the 13:08 mark of the first half, but Rodgers and Hawthorne took over using a combination of inside and outside scoring to spark a 20-7 burst as Drexel extended to its largest lead, 32-18 with 5:22 left. But Penn countered with a 9-2 run to close the half as the Dragons' offense sputtered.

Drexel out-rebounded the Quakers 47-43.

The Dragons were chosen to finish last in the Colonial Athletic Association; Hawthorne said it will give the team added incentive to prove its critics wrong throughout the season.

"We took what the CAA said about us finishing last and are using that for fuel," Hawthorne said.

Game Notes: Drexel is 5-15 all-time at the Palestra. … Flint is 2-5. … The game was televised on ESPN as part of the network's Tip-Off Marathon. …The last time Drexel played on ESPN was in 1994-95 for the NEAC Championship Game. … The Dragons committed 12 turnovers, while the Quakers had just seven - two in the entire second half. … Rodgers added five rebounds. He was 5-of-6 from the free throw line but missed on all five of his three-point attempts. … Drexel had 19 second chance points… Penn led for only 12 seconds in the game.

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