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.
