PHILADELPHIA — William & Mary dropped a road CAA game at Drexel, 86-66, on Thursday night.
The Tribe (14-10, 8-3 CAA) closed a seven-point halftime deficit within two with 11:12 remaining, but the Dragons hit 13 of their final 15 shots to pull away.
Senior Gabe Dorsey led the Tribe with 17 points on 5-of-10 shooting and 5-of-6 at the free throw line, while junior Kyle Pulliam, who made his first start for the Green and Gold, tallied 15 points on a perfect 5-of-5 from the field. Junior Chase Lowe turned in an 11-point, seven-rebound, and four-assist stat line.
Drexel (13-11, 5-6 CAA) scored on the opening possession of the second half to increase its lead to 39-30. W&M answered with a 7-0 run to close to within two. Pulliam scored on a driving lay-up and was fouled. He completed the 3-point play to start stretch of five-straight free throws for the Tribe. Gabe and Caleb Dorsey each hit a pair to close the gap to 41-39.
The deficit remained two, 48-46, after a Gabe Dorsey pull-up jumper at the 11:12 mark, but Jason Drake took over for the home team. He scored 10-straight Dragon points, including a pair of 3-pointers, to stretch the lead to 56-48 at 9:27 mark on a driving lay-up.
An 8-0 Drexel run, including back-to-back triples from Yame Butler and Drake, pushed the lead to 64-50 with 7:46 left. The Dragons lead was double-digit for the remainder of the contest.
W&M finished the game shooting just 39.6% (21-of-53) from the field and were only 5-of-26 from 3-point range (19.2%). The Tribe also connected at just a 19-of-31 clip (61.3%) at the free throw line.
Drake scored 19 of his career-high 25 points in the second half and added nine assists. Butler scored 18 points, while Villiam Garcia Adsten and Kobe MaGee tallied 13 and 10 points, respectively.
Drexel shot 64% (16-of-25) in the second half and finished at 58.5% (31-of-53) for the game. The Dragons also hit a season-high 12-of-24 (50%) from 3-point range.
Drexel scored nine of the game’s first 10 points, including five from MaGee. The Dragons led 9-1 on a Cole Hargrove putback less than four minutes into the contest.
The Tribe took its first lead behind a 10-0 run. Graduate student Keller Boothby and Pulliam connected on back-to-back 3-pointers, and Malachi Ndur book-ended the run with scores. His two free throws at 11:25 mark gave the Tribe an 18-14 advantage.
Drexel answered with an 8-0 run to move back in front. Garcia Adsten capped the spurt with a 3-pointer at the 7:59 mark to give the Dragon’s a 22-18 lead. The cushion jumped to eight, 32-24, on a MaGee 3-pointer with 2:22 left in the half, and W&M trailed by seven, 37-30, the break.
Ndur added nine points and five rebounds for the Tribe, while Boothby tallied eight on 2-of-5 from 3-point range.
Up Next
The Tribe heads to Delaware on Saturday, Feb. 8, for the second of two-straight road games. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m. from the Bob Carpenter Center in Newark and the game will be broadcast on FloCollege. Fans can follow the action over the Tribe Sports Network with Jay Colley and W&M Hall of Famer Steve Jolley ’97 on the call. Locally in Williamsburg, fans can listen in on The Tide 92.3 FM.
