Drexel pulls off ‘gritty’ overtime victory over La Salle
Drexel's Amari Williams slammed a two handed dunk in overtime, giving the Dragons a lead and some breathing room in a 65-58 defeat against La Salle.
Drexel snapped La Salle’s two-game winning streak with a 65-58 overtime win in a City 6 men’s basketball matchup Saturday at Tom Gola Arena on Saturday.
“I think it’s just a total team effort,” said Drexel head coach Zach Spiker. “I thought we were gritty. I thought we were tough.”
Statistical leaders
Fifth-year guard Coletrane Washington led the Dragons with 21 points. He shot 6-for-13 from the field, including 3-for-6 from deep and made all six of his free throws. Teammate Amari Williams had a season-high four blocks and 14 points. The forward also led the Dragons with 11 rebounds and four assists.
La Salle freshman Rokas Jocius had a big first half off the bench, scoring all 12 of his points. Anwar Gill led La Salle with 15 points, and Jhamir Brickus added 12.
What we saw
La Salle (5-5) opened the game strong, jumping to an 8-0 lead while the Dragons’ offense couldn’t get anything going. It took Drexel (5-5) more than four minutes to score, but settled in nicely after that — thanks to some timely three pointers from Washington.
The Dragons took their first lead, 25-24, on a three-pointer by Washington. After back-and-forth play during the final 3 minutes, 30 seconds of the first half, Drexel’s Jamie Bergens hit a buzzer-beating jumper to tie it, 31-31, at halftime.
Drexel led for the majority of the second half by just two possessions. It wasn’t until Gill had a three-point play — a layup that sent him to the free-throw line — that the two teams were tied, 53-53, with 2:30 to play.
Both teams went scoreless in the final minutes, sending it into overtime, when the Dragons outscored the Explorers, 12-5.
The Dragons shot just 34.2% from the field and 17.4% (4-for-23) from three. The Explorers shot 35.4% from the field and 26.3% (5-for-19) from long range.
“They played well when they needed to,” said La Salle head coach Fran Dunphy. “In overtime, I was hoping we could replicate what we did against Penn last week, but that didn’t work for us.”
» READ MORE: La Salle honors Tom Gola with a statue
Game-changing play
Up by two with under two minutes left in overtime, Williams backed his defender down and slammed home a thunderous two-handed dunk, putting the Dragons up, 57-53. Clutch free throws down the stretch from Washington sealed the win for Drexel.
Up next
La Salle has a tough road test, facing Cincinnati on Saturday (2 p.m., ESPN+). Drexel doesn’t have it much easier, traveling to Seton Hall on Wednesday (7 p.m., Fox Sports).
» READ MORE: Is a Big 5 (or City 6) tournament closer to happening?