Yame Butler drops a game-high 17 off the bench to spark a 58-54 Drexel win over rival Delaware

NEWARK, Del. — Drexel swept the season series against conference rival Delaware with a 58-54 win thanks to a big second-half run inside the Bob Carpenter Center Wednesday night.

“When you have to win on the road, it takes everybody,” Drexel head coach Zach Spiker said. “Tonight it took everybody. Gritty, gutty, league win. … It took a nasty, nasty effort.”

After playing sparingly throughout the season, guard Yame Butler made the most of his minutes, as he scored a career-high 17 points in just 16 minutes off the bench. Amari Williams added 10 points and nine rebounds for the Dragons (14-11, 8-5 CAA).

“Honestly, knowing that my time isn’t guaranteed, I come out there with a different edge than the rest of my teammates, probably,” Butler said postgame. “I come out there and like I don’t know when I’m gonna get pulled, so I just try to do the best I can, get a good influence on what’s happening in the game.”

With freshman Justin Moore out with an upper-body injury, Jamie Bergens got the start at point guard for Drexel and scored eight points. However, he left the game late in the second half with what appeared to be a left leg injury.

Jameer Nelson Jr. scored 15 for Delaware (12-14, 4-9) and La Salle transfer Christian Ray (11 points) and Gianmarco Arletti (10) also finished in double figures. Nelson Jr. entered the game 30th in the nation in scoring at 19.6 points per game.

After a back-and-forth first 16 minutes that saw Drexel lead by one, the Dragons went on a 9-4 run to close the half and give them a 30-24 advantage at the break. Despite only playing six minutes in the first half, Butler led all scorers with eight points on 3-for-3 shooting.

With Drexel’s lead cut to one possession in the second half, the Dragons rattled off a 13-2 run to give themselves some room. Drexel led comfortably until the final minute when Ebby Asamoah buried a trio of three-pointers in less than 30 seconds to bring the Blue Hens within four. Asamoah’s threes would be the first for the Blue Hens on the night.

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But it would be Butler closing out the affair, making four clutch free throws in the final 27 seconds to ice things for the Dragons.

Both teams struggled offensively as Delaware shot 40.4% from the field and 20% (3-for-15) while Drexel made 42.6% of its field goals and 29.4% of its threes. Wednesday’s game was the lowest-scoring performance of the season from Delaware.

Leading by three with 12 minutes remaining, the Dragons went on a 13-2 run to take a 14-point lead.

The spurt was highlighted by a three-pointer from Butler to put the Dragons up by 12 with 5:45 remaining followed by a block from him on the other end the very next play.

“I know what he’s capable of,” Spiker said of Butler. “The guy’s a bucket-getter, right? And he got buckets, and he handled the ball and did a good job.”

Drexel kicks off a three-game stretch against some of the CAA’s best, beginning with Towson (17-8, 9-3) on Saturday (2 p.m., FloHoops). The Tigers defeated Drexel, 64-58, on Jan. 5.