Philadelphia Inquirer 1/22/12: Drexel smokes Northeastern

Streaking Drexel smokes Northeastern, 71-53

By Aaron Bracy

For The Inquirer

Drexel always has been known for its defense under coach Bruiser Flint.

The Dragons are starting to carve a reputation for offense, too.

And that’s a deadly combination for opponents.

Derrick Thomas had a season-high 20 points to lead hot-shooting Drexel, and Samme Givens added 19 as the streaking Dragons defeated Northeastern, 71-53, Saturday at the Daskalakis Athletic Center.

It was the sixth straight victory and 12th in the last 13 games for the Dragons (14-5, 6-2 Colonial Athletic Association), who have won all eight home games this season and 11 in a row dating to last season.

“The difference in this team is we shoot the ball better, bottom line,” Flint said. “We always played ‘D.’ “

Drexel, which entered the game leading the CAA in three-point percentage (35.1) and three-point defense (26.2), made a season-best 64.3 percent (9 of 14) from long range.

“We always took smart threes, we just never made them before,” Flint said.

The Dragons also limited the Huskies (9-9, 5-3), who entered on their own hot streak having won four in a row and six of seven, to 2-for-10 three-point shooting.

“Defense is everything for us so it was very, very important that we’re locking down the three-point line,” Thomas said.

“When we’re hitting, it’s deadly.”

The win keeps the Dragons, who were picked to win the CAA in the preseason, near the top of the league standings as they played the first of a stretch of three league games in five days.

Drexel nearly blew Northeastern out of the sold-out DAC gym in the early going, making 10 of 13 shots, including 5 of 7 from the arc, to take a 25-9 lead midway through the first half during a stretch that included 18 consecutive Drexel points.

Drexel made an effort to work the ball in to the 6-foot-5 Givens, who had eight early points. As a result, the Huskies doubled Givens, who passed out to open shooters when he couldn’t get to the basket.

“That’s the way we want to play,” Flint said. “If we post the ball and they start helping out, then kick it out. It’s a little different than it was in the past because we have guys who can make those shots.”

Charlotte Observer 2/2/12: 49ers fall to La Salle to drop to last in A-10

49ers fall to La Salle, last place in A-10

By Aaron Bracy

Published in: College Hoops

PHILADELPHIA La Salle just had too many shooters for Charlotte.

The Explorers’ four-guard attack combined for 56 points and La Salle shot 10-for-21 from 3-point range in an 85-72 win over the 49ers at Gola Arena Wednesday night in a game between two teams headed in the opposite direction.

It was the fourth straight loss and ninth in 12 games for Charlotte (10-11, 2-6 Atlantic 10), which fell into a three-way tie for last place in the A-10.

La Salle (17-6, 6-2), meantime, stayed atop the league standings with its 10th win in 12 contests while improving to 12-0 at home this season.

“They shot the ball great from 3,” Charlotte coach Alan Major said of the Explorers, who entered ninth nationally in 3-point shooting (40.5 percent). We let them have too much confidence from that part of the floor. They made some big ones.”

Especially during a 4 minute 26 second game-changing stretch midway through the second half when the hosts scored on seven straight possessions, turning a 51-50 advantage into a 66-57 lead with 6 minutes 31 seconds remaining that was too much for Charlotte to overcome.

La Salle was 6-for-6 from the field, including one from the arc, and 2-for-3 from the line during the spurt.

“I think it was just a couple of timely shots,” Major said. “When the game got tough, they were able to find a couple of easy ones. To their credit they made some buckets when they needed it.”

Chris Braswell led four 49ers in double-figures with 19 points.

Pierra Henry, in his first game back after missing the last two with a sprained MCL in his left knee, had six points and two steals in 33 minutes.

The 49ers, who have lost six straight A-10 games after a 2-0 start, will look to stay out of the league basement when they face Fordham on Saturday in a match between two of the three teams tied at the bottom of the standings.

“You can’t let them lose belief and we’re going to continue to drive ourselves to get better,” Major said. “You can wake up and worry about getting better tomorrow. That’s where we are and that’s what we’re going to do. I love this team. We’re going to have total belief. We have to get our edge back.

“There’s a lot of basketball left and we’re going to write our own story.”

 

Philadelphia Inquirer 1/26/12: Drexel defeats Georgia State for eighth straight win

Drexel excels at both ends of court to win 8th straight

By Aaron Bracy

For The Inquirer

It is a scary combination for opponents.

A balanced team with weapons inside and out, Drexel can beat you in many ways on offense.

And defensively, the lock-down Dragons boast not just the stingiest unit in the Colonial Athletic Association but one of the best defenses in the country.

Drexel put it all on display on Wednesday night at the Daskalakis Athletic Center, brushing aside Georgia State, 68-46, to win its eighth straight game and 12th in a row at home, including all nine this season.

Chris Fouch had 15 points to lead the Dragons (16-5, 8-2), who broke free from a tie game by scoring 18 of the final 27 points before the intermission and then the first eight points of the second half during a backbreaking 11-minute stretch that sent the Panthers (14-7, 6-4) to just their fourth loss in 18 games.

“Us showing we can beat them like we did tonight, I think it kind of did make a statement,” said point guard Frantz Massenat, who had 13 points and six assists.

The statement not only was to the tough CAA, which knows preseason favorite Drexel will be formidable down the stretch and in the league tournament. But also the Dragons, perhaps feeling slighted by observers, may have been sending a message in their own city.

The Inquirer’s rankings Wednesday had Drexel, which has won 14 of its last 15, fourth of the six city teams.

“It’s a fuel for the fire a little bit. I like that,” Drexel coach Bruiser Flint said. “I respect all the Philly schools. They have great coaches, good players.”

But . . .

“Actually, I think we’re the best team in Philly,” Flint said. “I think we can beat anybody in the city.”

It’s easy to understand why after performances like the Dragons got against Georgia State.

In addition to Fouch, a guard, big man Samme Givens had 12 points and 10 rebounds. The Dragons’ leading scorer, Damion Lee (12.3 ppg), got in first-half foul trouble and finished with just five points.

And still Drexel won by 22 points while holding an opponent to 60 points or less for the 10th consecutive game, while keeping an opponent to 50 points or less for the eighth time this season. The Dragons entered the week sixth in the country, limiting opponents to 54.8 points per game.

Philadelphia Inquirer 1/29/12: Drexel downs Delaware for ninth straight win

Dragons win ninth straight

By Aaron Bracy

For The Inquirer

One of the reasons Drexel coach Bruiser Flint likely believes he has the best team in the city is because the Dragons are so versatile.

Every player on the court can score, and, as with all Flint-coached teams, of course they all can defend.

So, when Delaware coach Monte Ross made a pointed effort to take away the three-pointer against a Dragons team that leads the conference in long-range shooting, Drexel played the inside game with senior big man Samme Givens.

The result was Givens had 23 points and 10 rebounds to lead the streaking Dragons to their ninth straight victory, 71-55, over Delaware at the sold-out and rocking Daskalakis Athletic Center on Saturday.

It was the 15th victory in 16 games for Drexel (17-5, 9-2 Colonial Athletic Association), which has won all 10 games at the DAC this year and 13 in a row dating to last season.

“He played his butt off,” Flint said of Givens.

It was a huge turnaround for Givens, who was scoreless in 20 minutes in the first matchup on Dec. 3 when the Blue Hens (9-12, 5-6) beat Drexel, 71-60.

“We brought more energy than the last time, executed more, and defended well,” said Givens, who moved into ninth in the conference all-time with 934 career rebounds. “The things we’ve been doing so far that have given us success, we just kept doing it.”

That includes defending, as the Dragons held an opponent to 60 points or less for the 11th consecutive contest.

“We did a good job of guarding,” Flint said. “They think they can take us off the bounce. We just did a better job of [defending] that today.”

And while Blue Hens leading scorer Devon Saddler notched 22 points, he needed 20 shots to get there. Saddler’s output was eight short of the first meeting thankfully for Drexel’s players, who still might be running wind sprints had he gone for 30 again.

“I don’t think I had anybody score 30 points against me in my whole coaching career,” Flint said. “I let those guys know that, ‘Yo, dudes, people don’t score 30 on my teams.’ “

The Dragons broke open a five-point game by scoring the final seven points of the first half to go up 38-26 at the break, and then netted a pair of free throws after halftime to take their largest lead, 40-26. The 14-point margin was too much for Delaware to overcome.

Frantz Massenat chipped in 19 points and Chris Fouch had 10 for the Dragons, who begin a three-game road trip on Wednesday at Northeastern.

Philadelphia Inquirer 1/31/12: Penn downs Princeton

Rosen, Penn pummel Princeton, 82-67

By Aaron Bracy

For The Inquirer

Clearly, Zack Rosen doesn’t want to leave Penn without some Ivy League hardware.

Rosen was nearly unstoppable Monday night, scoring 28 points to go with five assists to lead Penn to an 82-67 victory over rival Princeton at the Palestra.

“I was just taking opportunities as they presented them,” said Rosen, who finished two points shy of his career high. “We did a good job of executing what we practiced the last four days.”

The victory moved Penn to 11-9 overall and 3-0 in the Ivy League, and kept alive the Quakers’ title chances in a league where even one loss would be a huge blow to Penn’s hopes with powerhouse Harvard already 4-0.

Penn, which is second only to Princeton’s 26 Ivy titles with 25, hasn’t finished atop the Ivy League since 2007, the season before Rosen arrived on campus.

After games at Yale and Brown this weekend, the Quakers will host the Crimson on Feb. 10. To keep pace with Harvard, Penn likely will have to remain perfect until then.

But Rosen said Penn can’t afford to look past its next game.

“[A 3-0 record] is great but we’re trying to win one game 14 times,” Rosen said.

Princeton (10-9, 1-2) certainly didn’t make it easy for Penn to stay perfect in the league.

The Quakers upped their eight-point halftime lead to 11, 52-41, with 15 minutes remaining on Rosen’s three-point play that gave him 21 points for the game and moved him past coach Jerome Allen into eighth all-time on the Quakers’ scoring list.

The Tigers kept it close for most of the half but never could get within five points down the stretch. Rosen put the contest away with another three-point play that put the Quakers ahead 70-59 with 2 minutes, 20 seconds left.

“We really had no response or answer for Zack Rosen,” Princeton coach Mitch Henderson said. “His understanding of tempo is special. He’s a really good player.”

Allen isn’t one to throw around superlatives and responded to a question about Rosen’s outing by asking, “You thought he played well?

“It’s my responsibility to push him to play a perfect basketball game,” said Allen, who like Rosen played point guard. “He’s an unbelievable person, unbelievable player. I’m extremely hard on him and he takes the criticism. He makes tough shots but I’m not surprised when he makes them because he spends so much time in the gym. . . . He did a solid job.

“We can’t rest right here,” Allen added. “I’m not here to sing his praise. I’m here to focus on Friday night.”

Tyler Bernardini had 14 points and Miles Cartwright and Steve Rennard added 10 for the Quakers, who ended a five-game losing streak against Princeton while winning their fifth game in their last six.

Bernardini also climbed up the Penn scoring charts, passing Bob Morse to move into 12th all-time.

It was the 225th meeting between the two schools, who have combined for 51 Ivy League titles and 47 NCAA appearances. Penn upped its advantage in the 109-year rivalry to 123-102.

Fort Worth Star-Telegram 1/2/12: Giants’ pass rush too much for Cowboys

Giants’ pass rush overwhelms Cowboys

Posted Sunday, Jan. 01, 2012

 

By Aaron Bracy

 

Special to the Star-Telegram

 

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — The Giants’ defense gave Tony Romo and the Cowboys fits on Sunday night.

 

New York recorded six sacks — three in each half — and eliminated Dallas (8-8) from playoff contention 31-14 and sent the NFC East champion Giants (9-7) into a first-round game against Atlanta at noon Sunday.

 

The Giants set the tone in the first half and upped their season sack total to 48, moving them into a tie for third place in the NFL.

 

Jason Pierre-Paul continued his impressive season, sacking Romo for the first time for a 12-yard loss early in the first quarter to force the Cowboys into a third-and-21. It gave Pierre-Paul 16 1/2 sacks on the season.

 

Osi Umenyiora, in his first game back after missing the past four due to a high ankle sprain, then sacked Romo for a 7-yard loss on third-and-4 from the Dallas 22 later in the first quarter. It was the first of two sacks on the night for Umenyiora.

 

“I’m happy we were able to get this victory. It was fun. It was a good time,” Umenyiora said. “We knew we were going to have to do that [get sacks] to win this game.”

 

 

Cruz-ing along

Giants wide receiver Victor Cruz continued his breakout season.

 

Cruz took a 5-yard pass from quarterback Eli Manning and turned it into a 74-yard touchdown that gave the Giants a 7-0 lead with 4:57 left in the first quarter.

 

It was a tough series for Cowboys cornerback Terence Newman. Newman was covering Cruz on the play and then neither he nor safety Gerald Sensabaugh could catch Cruz down the left sideline.

 

Cruz had a huge impact in the fourth quarter. With the Giants clinging to a seven-point advantage, he caught a 44-yard pass on a third-and-7 from their own 28. He caught a 20-yard pass later in the drive that ended with Lawrence Tynes’ 28-yard field goal that put New York up 10 points.

 

“We needed to win two games and we were able to do that and play big in the fourth quarter to seal the win,” Manning said.

 

 

Giant breaks

Will Blackmon muffed Chris Jones’ punt with 2:54 left in the first quarter, but the Giants didn’t lose possession when Cowboys’ Alan Ball pounced on the ball but lost it. New York’s Greg Jones ultimately recovered it.

 

Later, with nine minutes left in the second quarter, New York running back Brandon Jacobs fumbled on a first-down run on the Cowboys’ 14.

 

The ball deflected directly to Sensabaugh, but slid out of the safety’s hands and was recovered by Manning.

 

 

Briefly

Lawrence Tynes extended his franchise record of consecutive extra points to 158 after making four.

 

Antrel Rolle’s third-quarter interception of Romo was his second of the season and upped the Giants’ total to 20, which is tied or sixth best in the NFL.

 

Tampa Tribune 1/6/12: South Florida gets road win at Villanova

Bulls earn Big East road win at Villanova

By AARON BRACY

 

 

The South Florida men’s basketball team finally got a taste of road success.

 

The Bulls earned their first victory away from home this season, defeating Villanova, 74-57, Thursday night at the Pavilion.

 

Not only is it USF’s first road win of this season, but just the Bulls’ seventh road victory in seven seasons since joining the Big East.

 

Also, the victory was only the second against Villanova in the last 53 games at the Pavilion, the Wildcats’ on-campus home court. Their only other loss at the cozy, 6,500-person venue came last Feb. 12 to Pitt.

 

“I saw us getting close,” USF coach Stan Heath said. “We’ve been knocking on the door. We had been in some other games. We just couldn’t continue on.”

 

Jawanza Poland matched his career high with 20 points, and the Bulls outrebounded the Wildcats, 38-26. Blake Nash added 12 points and Toarlyn Fitzpatrick chipped in 10 for the Bulls (9-7, 2-1 Big East).

 

Heath knew coming in the Bulls would have a chance against the Wildcats (7-8, 0-3), who feature a young team with five freshmen and no seniors.

 

The Cats got even younger on Thursday when coach Jay Wright benched juniors Maalik Wayns and Dominic Cheek for a minor issue in practice and started four of his freshmen. Both Wayns and Cheek entered the game early in the contest and the benching didn’t factor into the outcome.

 

“We just felt like coming in here, Villanova was a little young, coming off a couple of losses, and if we played well we would have a chance,” Heath said.

 

Poland was big down the stretch for the Bulls. He scored seven of nine points during a pivotal 9-2 Bulls run late in the second half after Villanova had trimmed USF’s 12-point advantage to 48-45 with 9 minutes, 3 seconds remaining.

 

“Don’t get scared, stay aggressive, punch back and stay aggressive,” Poland said was the message during the team’s timeout after Villanova pulled within three points.

 

The spurt gave USF a 57-47 lead with 5:49 remaining. The advantage was 11 when Victor Rudd Jr. slammed home two points after a pretty no-look feed from Nash.

 

Poland, who missed the first 11 games with a back injury, said he is finally rounding into complete health.

 

“I feel real good out there playing running up and down the court,” he said. “I feel like I’m up 100 percent.”

 

Heath noticed the play.

 

“Jawanza stepped up in big way and really carried that load,” Heath said.

 

NOTE: USF guard Anthony Collins injured his head after falling hard to the floor on a layup attempt in the first half. He played only 17 minutes and Heath said he would be re-evaluated today.

 

Philadelphia Inquirer 1/5/12: La Salle defeats Xavier

Posted: Thu, Jan. 5, 2012, 3:01 AM | 148 views | 0comments |  <

La Salle ambushes Xavier

The Explorers beat the perennial A-10 power in their league opener.

By Aaron Bracy

 

For The Inquirer

La Salle proved it is for real.

 

The Explorers, picked to finish 13th in the 14-team Atlantic Ten, recorded a convincing 80-70 conference-opening win over preseason favorite Xavier on Wednesday night at Tom Gola Arena in one of the program’s best wins in recent memory.

 

The Explorers (11-4, 1-0 A-10) won their fourth straight and ninth in 10 games while showing they are legitimate after putting together an impressive out-of-conference record that came against a soft schedule.

 

“It is a statement that we have a chance to be one of the best teams in the A-10,” La Salle coach John Giannini said. “I think it’s a statement that we can play with the best teams in the country.”

 

Earl Pettis had 23 points to pace La Salle, and Ramon Galloway added 16 for the Explorers, who extended their Gola record to 10 straight wins.

 

“This win proves to everybody in the Atlantic Ten that we can play and that La Salle is a different team this year,” Galloway said. “Our goal is to do big things this year.”

 

Galloway, a junior transfer from South Carolina, continued to be a driving force behind the Explorers’ transformation. His defensive pressure forced Xavier’s Tu Holloway, the reigning A-10 player of the year, into a 2-for-12 shooting night.

 

Holloway, who entered leading the Musketeers in scoring (18.4 ppg), had 11 of his 15 points from the free-throw line. It is the 11th time in 12 games that La Salle has held the opponent’s top scorer below his average.

 

Dezmine Wells also had 15 points for Xavier (9-5, 0-1), which has lost five of six games since the much-publicized Dec. 10 fight in a 76-53 win over Cincinnati that led to suspensions of four Musketeers.

 

“If that’s going to be our excuse, then we’re going to have a tough way to go in this conference,” Xavier coach Chris Mack said.

 

The Explorers triumphed against a Xavier team that has owned the Atlantic Ten, winning six straight regular-season titles and going 29-3 in the league the last two seasons. The Musketeers, who have reached as high as No. 8 in the national rankings this season, have made six straight NCAA tournament appearances, while La Salle hasn’t reached any postseason tournament since 1992 and finished below .500 in 16 of the last 18 seasons.

 

La Salle matched its biggest lead of the game when Pettis scored on a layup to go up, 60-42, with 11 minutes, 45 seconds left. But Xavier kept battling and got within five on Mark Lyons’ three with 1:42 left that made it 74-69.

 

La Salle, however, managed to do enough down the stretch to hold on, putting the game away on Devon White’s fastbreak dunk with 50 seconds left.

 

Philadelphia Inquirer 1/1/12: La Salle blows out Hartford

Posted: Sun, Jan. 1, 2012, 3:01 AM | 119 views | 0comments |  <

Surging La Salle thumps Hartford, 73-55

By Aaron Bracy

 

For The Inquirer

 

 

La Salle

It was not shocking that La Salle easily defeated winless Hartford on Saturday.

 

But the Explorers’ 10-4 record entering Atlantic Ten play has been somewhat surprising.

 

Ramon Galloway and Tyreek Duren each had 19 points to lead surging La Salle to a 73-55 victory over the Hawks that extended the Explorers’ record winning streak at Tom Gola Arena to nine straight games.

 

Sam Mills returned to the lineup after a one-game absence because of an ankle injury and netted 10 points for the Explorers. Earl Pettis also reached double figures with 11.

 

As it has all season, the Explorers defense keyed their win over the Hawks (0-12), who are coached by St. Joseph’s graduate and former Penn and La Salle assistant John Gallagher.

 

The Explorers trailed, 17-13, with 10 minutes, 27 seconds remaining in the first half before closing the period on a 20-4 run. La Salle forced the Hawks into nine turnovers and 1-for-9 shooting, including 0 for 4 from beyong the arc, during the decisive stretch.

 

Hartford never got within double digits after halftime.

 

“We’re playing together as a team and playing defense,” Galloway said. “We pride ourselves on defense, and that’s what we’re focused on this year.”

 

In large part because of Galloway, a junior transfer from South Carolina, La Salle is holding teams to 61.5 points and 38.5 percent field-goal shooting after giving up 78.6 points and 44.9 percent from the field last season, when they finished below .500 (15-18) for the 16th time in the last 18 seasons.

 

“Just defense – that’s all we really preach, is defense,” Duren said. “The scoring is going to happen anyway – so as long as we shut people down, we’re going to win.”

 

The Explorers have won 8 of 9 overall, and the 10 nonconference wins are the most for any La Salle squad since the 1989-90 unit had as many.

 

But the victories have come at the expense of many soft opponents, as La Salle entered Saturday’s game with the 262d toughest schedule in the country, according to realtimerpi.com.

 

From now, the opponents’ skill level will be ratcheted up, beginning with Wednesday’s league opener at home against Xavier.

 

“Now the competition changes and we go from playing good teams to real good teams every night,” La Salle coach John Giannini said of A-10 play.

 

The Explorers were picked to finish 13th in the 14-team A-10 in the preseason media poll, but look primed to exceed those expectations.

 

“You can’t blame them for picking us [to finish 13th],” Duren said of the Explorers, who last reached a postseason tournament in 1992. “As of right now, we’re showing everybody that prediction is wrong.”

 

Philadelphia Inquirer 12/28/11: Drexel downs Fairfield

Posted: Thu, Dec. 29, 2011, 3:25 AM | 88 views | 1comments |  <

Samme Givens leads Drexel to win over Fairfield

By Aaron Bracy

 

For The Inquirer

Fairfield had a plan to stop Samme Givens, but Givens had an answer.

 

Givens scored a career-high 31 points to lead Drexel to its fifth straight victory, 77-69, over Fairfield on Wednesday night at the Daskalakis Athletic Center.

 

“He played harder than us and said, ‘Your scouting report be damned. I’m going to do what I want to,’ ” Fairfield coach Sydney Johnson said. “He just plays harder than whoever is playing against him.”

 

The Stags (7-6) couldn’t stop Givens, who made 13 of 16 shots – including four old-fashioned, three-point plays – while continuing his hot streak.

 

“We kept giving it to him, and he kept scoring,” Drexel coach Bruiser Flint said. “We knew he could post it. We knew we had that advantage from the beginning.”

 

A 6-foot-5, 220-pound senior forward who plays bigger than his listed height, Givens is starting to resemble the player who averaged 12.2 points and 10.3 rebounds last season and was selected to the all-Colonial Athletic Association preseason first team.

 

After some early-season struggles, he has scored 90 points during the winning streak, upping his average to 13.3 points per game. Through the Dragons’ first six contests, Givens had been averaging 9.3 points.

 

“I made my first couple, and obviously you feel good about that,” Givens said. “Everything starts falling down, and my teammates let you know. It was a good night.”

 

The Dragons (7-4) took a 47-36 lead with 15 minutes, 34 seconds remaining when Givens assisted on Daryl McCoy’s dunk that capped a 9-3 Drexel run to start the second half.

 

The Dragons led by as many as 16 with 3:32 left but, as has been the case in several wins this season, they couldn’t close it out without some late-game tension. Fairfield cut it to 70-66 on Derek Needham’s three-pointer with 53 seconds remaining, but Frantz Massenat’s layup on the ensuing possession with 24 ticks left gave Drexel the breathing room it needed.