Men's basketball dominates
Brett Fischer
Issue date: 1/16/09 Section: Sports
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Drexel (7-8, 3-3 CAA) never trailed and defeated Hofstra 70-52 Jan. 14 at the Daskalakis Athletic Center for its first home conference win of the season.
Dragons guard Scott Rodgers had another noteworthy performance and Hofstra's Charles Jenkins struggled against Drexel for the second time this season.
Rodgers finished with a career-high 26 points on 8-of-13 shooting from the field and was 8-of-10 from the charity stripe, while falling one rebound shy of a double-double.
Drexel guard Jamie Harris had a quiet, but effective evening as he had eight points, four assists and a steal.
But the evening belonged to Rodgers, who played just as well on the opposite side of the ball.
"Coach said I can be a pretty good defender when I want to be," Rodgers said after being asked how he was able to contain Jenkins.
Jenkins scored only eight points and fouled out of the game, leaving Hofstra (10-7, 2-4) little hope for a comeback. It marked only the third time this season he did not score more than 10 points in a game and the second time against Drexel.
"If you're going to try to beat [Hofstra] you have to attack Jenkins," Drexel coach Bruiser Flint said. "We did a pretty good job staying in front of him and making him take tough shots."
Even though Drexel has struggled throughout the season to close out games, for the second time in less than two weeks, Drexel outmuscled its conference foe from Long Island.
"A win is a win," Flint said. "It's been uncomfortable all year. We just have to play with some confidence and they have to believe in themselves."
The Dragons dominated the entire game, unlike their first meeting with Hofstra when they almost blew an 11-point lead with under three minutes remaining.
They even found a way to make their free throws, making 21-of-26 for the game. Leon Spencer was a perfect 8-for-8 in the second half and finished with 12 points, six boards and three blocks.
Drexel's defense held Hofstra to just 29.9 percent from the field and 18.8 percent beyond the three-point line. In addition, the Dragons scored 22 points off of the Pride's 15 turnovers.
The Pride outrebounded the Dragons 43-39 and had 21 offensive rebounds, but the numbers were inflated by the several rebounds Hofstra had off their own missed layups.
One of the underlying themes of the game was the DAC Pack's ability to upset Hofstra's Dane Johnson.
Prior to the game, fans offered Johnson a donut from Dunkin' Donuts and chants of "Dunkin Dane-nuts" were screamed throughout the game.
Johnson's frustration hit a peak when he was called for an offensive foul with 4:04 in the first half and in response to the call, was hit for a technical foul.
He finished with just one rebound and three turnovers.
With a win in their upcoming game at UNC Wilmington Jan. 17, the Dragons have a chance to even their record for the first time Dec. 14.
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