Troy Harper, James Butler lead Drexel past James Madison, 73-68

The energy of homecoming day at Drexel was fortified Saturday by the students in the crowd at the Daskalakis Athletic Center, but somehow that didn’t reach the Dragons’ players for the first 6½ minutes of their game against James Madison.

After trailing by 16, however, the Dragons picked up their play, led by the more-intense play of Troy Harper and James Butler, grabbed the lead by halftime, and never relinquished it in a 73-68 victory over the Dukes in a Colonial Athletic Association game.

Harper scored 22 points on 8-of-16 shooting and added six rebounds. The 6-foot-8 Butler, a transfer from Navy, provided the spark under the boards, pulling down a season-high 16 rebounds in nearly 38 minutes and helping Drexel (10-11, 4-4) notch back-to-back wins for the first time since Dec. 1 and 5.

“I think I bring a lot of energy to the team,” said Butler, who fueled a 45-35 edge on the boards. “Getting a rebound and doing what I can to help us win, I can’t be more thankful for the position I’m in. I think we’re at a turning point. I think the team chemistry is getting tighter and tighter. It’s really exciting.”

The Dragons made just one of their first 10 shots from the field, and the Dukes (9-11, 2-5) took a 20-4 lead on a three-point basket by Stuckey Mosley with 13 minutes, 20 seconds left in the first half. JMU held a 24-9 advantage before Drexel made its second field goal.

The Dragons then started finding the range, and a 1-3-1 zone defense helped slow down the Dukes. Harper made three straight baskets in the lane to help trim the deficit to 29-22 with 4:58 left in the half.

Mosley made it a 9-point game, but the Dukes went scoreless for the final 4:42 of the half, missing seven straight shots and going 0-of-4 on free throws, while Drexel scored 11 straight points, 4 by Alihan Demir, to go into the locker room with a 33-31 advantage.

“I think we played with more energy” after the slow start, Dragons coach Zach Spiker said. “I didn’t think there was any energy" early on. "There was no, like, massive adjustment. It was a mental adjustment that they made – not me, the guys did.”

Harper scored 6 points in a 10-2 run early in the second half that extended a one-point lead to 47-38. A 12-4 spurt gave the Dragons a 65-53 lead on a pull-up jumper by Camren Wynter with 3:38 remaining. They had just enough to hold off JMU and Mosley, who scored 7 of his game-high 25 points in the final 55 seconds.

Trevor John added 15 points and Wynter had 14 points for Drexel, which had 18 points on free throws, compared to JMU’s 3 points on 12 attempts.

The Dragons played the game without guard Kurk Lee, who reinjured his right shoulder Thursday night, and had Demir, its second-leading scorer, on the court for just three minutes of the second half after he took a hard fall just before halftime.