The Drexel Men’s basketball team picked up a road win 79-64 against William and Mary on Saturday, Jan. 23 at Kaplan Arena in Williamsburg, Virginia. James Butler and Camren Wynter led the way for the Dragons, scoring a combined total of 40 points.
The Dragons now improve to 7-5 on the season and 2-3 in the CAA. The Tribe dropped to 4-7 overall and 2-4 in CAA play. The Dragons previously lost to William and Mary on Jan. 17 in a close game, 69-64, but Drexel was determined not to lose two games in a row against The Tribe.
James Butler was the lead scorer for Drexel with 21 points. Camren Wynter and Mate Okros also finished in double figures, with 19 and 12 points respectively. T.J. Bickerstaff added eight points and eight rebounds, while Zach Walton also contributed eight points in the win.
The largest lead for William and Mary was two points early in the first half, with 19 minutes 38 seconds remaining. That small margin did not last long, and Drexel went on to lead for most of the game. At the half, Drexel was up 37-32.
William and Mary’s Yuri Covington managed to cut the five-point lead to two, 37-35, early in the second half. Covington finished the game with 11 points. The Tribe’s Luke Loewe was the leading scorer, with 15 points on the afternoon.
In the second half, Drexel went on a 9-2 run and did not look back. William and Mary would come as close as seven points; Drexel led by as much as 17 points.
The two teams were mostly even stat-wise. Each had 36 points in the paint, and Drexel had 16 points of turnovers to William and Mary’s 14. The biggest difference would be the shooting percentage. The Dragons shot 59.6 percent collectively, while The Tribe shot 39.3 percent on the game. The Dragons defense was superb; they held Connor Kochera to just eight points on the day. Kochera put up 26 points in the previous meeting between the two teams.
The Dragons will look to continue their momentum into this upcoming weekend as they face Northeastern University Saturday and Sunday in Philadelphia. The Huskies are 7-1 in the Northeast Conference and 8-6 overall. Northeastern will look to bounce back after a loss against James Madison University.
William and Mary will also play this weekend against familiar CAA opponent Towson in a two-game series.
Saturday and Sunday’s Drexel vs. Northeastern games will be available to watch on FloHoops, and live stats can be found on the Drexel Dragons website.