Second Half Rally Falls Short In Men's Basketball Loss At Drexel

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. -- Drexel went 8-of-10 from the line in the final 56 seconds and held off a second half rally from Old Dominion for a 71-59 decision on Friday night at the Daskalakis Athletic Center.
 
"You got to be able to put the ball in the basket, simple as that," said ODU Head Coach Jeff Jones. "It wasn't for a lack of effort, we held an advantage in offensive boards, we made fewer turnovers, had advantages in second chance points and points in the paint, but just got to put the ball in the basket."
 
The Dragons used a 9-2 run spanning nearly four minutes of the second half to take a 12-point advantage at 51-39 on a Garfield Turner jumper at the 12:10 mark. That advantage grew to 14 on a Coletrane Washington 3-pointer with 5:23 left for a 63-49 lead. Washington scored all 15 of his points in the second half.
 
Old Dominion used a 10-0 run to get within four at 63-59 as Ben Stanley hit a jumper with 63 seconds left. He scored six of the 10 points en route to a game-high 18 points.
 
Down the stretch, the Dragons made enough free throws to keep Old Dominion at bay.
 
The first half saw Tyreek Scott-Grayson go 2-of-3 from foul line to tie the game at 15-all with 11:30 remaining. From there, the Monarchs had a brief flurry scoring six of next seven points to lead 21-16 with 9:06 left after a pair of Chaunce Jenkins free throws with 9:06 left.
 
The margin remained five after a Stanley jumper in the paint with 5:07 left as ODU held a 25-20 lead. Drexel closed the half on a 10-3 run as a free throw by Amari Williams with 40 seconds left put the hosts up 30-28 at intermission.
 
Following Stanley in scoring was Jenkins with nine and the duo of Imo Essien and Scott-Grayson had eight points each. Mekhi Long joined Stanley as leading rebounders for ODU with six each.
 
Old Dominion returns home to face Virginia Wesleyan on Monday night at 7 p.m. inside Chartway Arena, before heading to the Charleston Classic to start on November 17 against Virginia Tech.
 
NOTES
Imo Essien with a career-high eight points, topping previous high of five done twice last year…ODU held an 18-9 advantage in offensive rebounds and 34-26 advantage in points in the paint…Monarchs held Drexel without a field goal in final 5:23.