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Drexel can’t overcome slow start in loss to William & Mary

Leading scorer Troy Harper leaves the game with a knee injury.

Drexel guard Troy Harper holds onto the rim after dunking against William and Mary in the first half of a Colonial Athletic Association basketball game Saturday, Jan. 5, 2019, at the Daskalakis Athletic Center. LOU RABITO / Staff
Drexel guard Troy Harper holds onto the rim after dunking against William and Mary in the first half of a Colonial Athletic Association basketball game Saturday, Jan. 5, 2019, at the Daskalakis Athletic Center. LOU RABITO / StaffRead moreLOU RABITO / Staff

It stands to reason that if Drexel would take a double-digit lead rather than fall behind by two numbers, life for Dragons coach Zach Spiker would be a little less stressful.

But unlike on Thursday when Drexel managed to come all the way back and beat Elon, William & Mary would not play a part in letting the Dragons out the hole they had dug.

Junior forward Nathan Knight had 24 points, 12 rebounds and five assists to lead the Tribe to an 84-66 victory over Drexel on Saturday in a Colonial Athletic Association game at the Daskalakis Athletic Center.

“All credit to William & Mary because they made enough plays,” Spiker said. “You have to expend a lot of energy to get back into the game.

“It was 20-6, but then we outscored them 23-17, but you’re still in a hole.”

The problem with falling behind by double-digits after 5 ½ minutes is that while there is still plenty of time left, the possessions become so magnified in their impact.

If Drexel had two solid possessions, William and Mary only needed one to put things back to the status quo, and when The Tribe (7-9, 3-1) got on a mini roll, the Dragons (7-10, 1-3) were staring at a bigger mountain to climb.

Drexel pulled to six on several occasions, but W&M responded each time to push its advantage back up.

With 7:20 remaining, the Dragons trailed 56-52 following a three-pointer by Coltrane Washington, but consecutive baskets by the Tribe finally broke the comeback spirit.

A 23-7 run by William & Mary pushed its advantage to 17 and put the Dragons to sleep for good.

Drexel shot just 35.0 percent for the game and was 6-of-23 on three-point field goal attempts.

“They were comfortable, and we were not comfortable,” Spiker said. “They did a better job of forcing us to take tougher looks.”

The Dragons were again without injured senior point guard Kurk Lee, who missed his 14th game and red-shirt freshman forward Tim Perry Jr.

Adding to the injury issues, leading scorer Troy Harper, who finished with 17 points, left the game after hurting his knee on a non-contact play.

Spiker said he has no timetable on any of the injuries right now.

“We’re hoping what happened to Troy is not serious, but we don’t know yet,” he said. “Injuries are a part of the game.

“If I could say Tim Perry will be back on Monday and Kurk Lee on Wednesday, I would tell. The health and safety of the student-athlete is our No. 1 concern.

“When those guys are 100 percent, we will get them back out there.”