Spencer ties block record with nine, Drexel wins
Mike Mazzeo
Issue date: 2/27/09 Section: Sports
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"I told him if he didn't get a rebound he was coming right out of the game," Flint said. "I said don't even worry about getting buzzed out; just come right over to the bench."
Spencer must've gotten his coach's message.
The junior forward tied a program record, blocking nine shots and barely missed out on notching a triple-double as Drexel took care of Loyola 74-58 in a BrackBuster match-up Feb. 21 at the Daskalakis Athletic Center.
"Yeah, I felt like I was capable of [blocking that many shots]," Spencer, who also scored 10 points and pulled down nine rebounds, said. "I just felt like I needed to assert myself more on defense.
"I'm able to jump high, so it's always been a factor in my game. We pride ourselves on defense here at Drexel, so blocking shots is what we needed - so that's what I did."
Scott Rodgers and Gerald Colds combined for 27 points in the final 20 minutes for the Dragons (15-11), who shot 69.9 percent in the second half and used a 15-0 run to pull away from the Greyhounds (11-18) and rebounded from a heartbreaking 49-48 loss at George Mason Feb. 18.
Rodgers finished with a game-high 23 points and seven rebounds, while Colds added 18. Both players were 4-of-7 from three-point range. Overall, Drexel made a season-high 11 three-pointers.
Colds, who has been mired in a season-long shooting slump (31.4 percent overall coming into the game), stepped up with the game tied at 38 with 15:44 remaining in the second half.
The sophomore guard knocked down consecutive corner threes to spark a run of 15 unanswered points as the Dragons extended to a 53-38 advantage. Rodgers and Spencer combined for the other nine points during the spurt.
Spencer's turnaround was miraculous considering his slow start, which nearly prompted Flint to sit him the rest of the second half.
But all of a sudden, Spencer became a force on the defense end, intimidating on the interior, helping out and swatting shots from the weak side.
His final block came with just nine seconds left when he sprinted the length of the floor and prevented Brett Harvey from finishing a seemingly easy layup when he came out of nowhere and pinned the ball against the glass.
Spencer became the fourth player in team history to swat nine shots. Bob Stephens, Robert Battle and Chaz Crawford previously accomplished the rare feat.
Drexel had to rebound from a horrendous shooting performance in the first half when it shot only 23.3 percent from the field and had just seven field goals.
"[Bruiser] felt as though we came out too [relaxed]," Rodgers said of his team's early struggles. "So we just came out with more energy in the second half. We were able to knock down the open shots they gave us and that was it."
The Dragons outrebounded Loyola 39-38, while going 17-of-26 from the free throw line.
Jamal Barney led the Greyhounds with 16 points, while Harvey and Issac Reid each added 10.
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