Spring Break
Poor second half dooms Drexel
Mike Mazzeo
Issue date: 1/9/09 Section: Sports
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The Dragons were outscored 40-18 and shot just 18.2 percent from the field in the final 20 minutes as they were routed by VCU 75-46 Jan. 8 at the Daskalakis Athletic Center.
"We just don't wanna shoot 18 percent against a team like VCU," Flint said. "Those guys were on fire. They hit every three. You can't play like that against those guys because they're too good."
The Rams (10-5, 3-1 CAA) scored 32 of the first 38 points of the half to extend to a 33-point cushion, their largest of the game. They shot 55.6 percent for the half, making 6-of-8 three-point attempts.
"I expected us to come out and play hard and be the aggressor and I thought we did that," Rams coach Anthony Grant said.
The 29-point loss was Drexel's worst home defeat since it dropped a 86-53 decision to Maine Feb. 18, 2000. Sammy Givens led the Dragons (5-8, 1-3), who have now lost consecutive games after winning their previous three, with 11 points, while Gerald Colds chipped in 10.
Reigning 2008 CAA Player of the Year Eric Maynor finished with just eight points, but had an impact in other facets of the game, dishing out a game-high eight assists and grabbing four rebounds.
"I've always said that Eric affects the game in a lot of ways," Grant said. "To say he's a scorer doesn't do justice as to who he is. He makes his teammates better."
Joey Rodriguez paced three VCU scorers in double digits with 16 points. The sharpshooter, who knocked down four of his five attempts from beyond the arc, dropped in a pair of threes early in the second half that extended the Rams' lead to 20.
But the game was already over at that point.
VCU scored the half's initial eight points and coasted from there.
Overall, Drexel shot 26.2 percent from the field, made only two of its 10 three-point attempts and 12 of its 24 foul shots. The Rams, however, converted on 50.9 percent of their field goals, nine of their 12 shots beyond the arc and 12 of their 16 free throw attempts.
"We were just bad overall," Flint said. "In the second half we were bad at everything."
Scott Rodgers was an abysmal 3-of-19 from the field and scored eight points, while Evan Neisler followed up his career-high 22-point effort against James Madison with just two.
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