The Dragons will be in the Hub of the world on Saturday to battle it out with the Northeastern Huskies. The word battle isn't used loosely here -- the Dragons opponents have scored in the 80's the last two games, and there's only one cure - a rockfight. And in the past, if there was one team that DU could rely on for a rockfight, it was Bill Coen's Huskies.
The good news doesn't stop there. After a disastrous start to the season, guess who is the best team in the CAA at holding onto the basketball? That's your Drexel Dragons, led by Rashann London and Freddie Wilson on the point. Last in the league at both holding onto the ball and forcing turnovers? The Huskies of Boston. And there is the rub. Becuase the Dragons were outshot when they won the home game in this years set. DU won that game because they had half of the turnovers and outrebounded NU by almost double - one of only two times in the last 10 games that they have outrebounded their opponent.
In simple terms:
The Dragons are the worst shooting team in the conference, per Bruiser Flint.
The Huskies are 53rd in the entire country (2nd in the conference) in effective shooting percentage.
Much like against Hofstra, the Dragons are not going to shoot their way to victory here. It's about taking more shots than the opponents do. The Dragons can already be expected to win the turnover battle, so this game will be won and lost on the glass. Paging Rodney Williams! Paging Mohamed Bah! After the guards valiantly tried to keep the Dragons in the game at JMU, it's time for the boys up front to do what they do. In the first matchup Bah & Co dominated POY hopeful Scott Eatherton and held him to 3 boards in 26 minutes. They pushed him around a bit and earned that win for the Dragons. Eatherton is sure to come out angry this time, but if the Drexel forwards can body him up again, and this becomes a very winnable game for the Dragons.
Coen's Gang has played well this year against the finesse teams that run. They are 3-1 against William and Mary and Hofstra, but when it comes to the bruisers in the conference, Towson, Charleston, Drexel and Delaware, it's been a different story. They handled Towson at home pretty well, but it was a dogfight on the road. They squeaked by Charleston by 2 at home. They split with UD and obviously lost at Drexel. Body them up, get physical and smack those boards, and win this game. No point in repeating, but its clear which set does this better for Drexel, although it's worth noting that DU outrebounded NU in the four guard in the first matchup.
Damion Lee and late freethrow shooting -- upset alert?
Prediction: Drexel 62, Northeastern 61
Vegas Line: TBA
Had Bah's free throw or Mojica's tip in attempt gone in, you would have right on target with your prediction.
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