TRIBE 49, DREXEL 62
The College of William and Mary’s cold shooting reappeared in a 62-49 loss at Drexel University Saturday.
“We can talk about offense all we want, but we just can’t make shots,” Head Coach Tony Shaver said on the Tribe Radio postgame show.
The Tribe, which shot 40.9 percent from the floor and 50 percent from beyond the arc in the first half, cooled off in the second half connecting on only 32.3 percent of its field goals and sinking two of nine treys.
The College (6-13, 1-8 CAA) cut its deficit to as few as three points in the second half, but missed layups and scoring opportunities prevented a comeback.
The Tribe’s defense clamped down on Drexel (10-8, 6-3 CAA) midway through the second half, holding the Dragons without a field goal for over six minutes. But true to recent form, the College hit one of nine shots during that stretch and failed to chip away at Drexel’s 45-39 lead.
“You look at the second half: We missed a reverse layup for two; we missed the front-ends of two one-and-ones; one of our better scorers [junior forward Danny Sumner] missed two layups; and one of our guards [junior Sean McCurdy] missed, too,” Shaver said. “To be a great team, we have to take advantage of those opportunities.”
With the Tribe struggling to score, the Dragons rebuilt their second-half lead to 10 on Jamie Harris’s layup with 6:20 remaining. Harris tied his career high with 16 points to lead the Dragons to their fifth consecutive CAA win.
The Tribe eventually cut Drexel’s lead to six on two free throws from junior forward Steven Hess, but Dragons guard Tramayne Hawthorne buried a three to push Drexel’s advantage back to nine.
During the first 6:30 of the game, the College held Drexel to just three points, but only established a six-point lead at 9-3. The Dragons’ offense woke up late in the first half when the team’s 14-1 run erased a one-point deficit and built an 11-point lead.
Junior guard David Schneider led the Tribe with 17 points on 7 of 14 shooting, including knocking down 3 of 5 from beyond the arc. Freshman forward Quinn McDowell added 10 points.
Junior forward Danny Sumner came off the bench (coach’s decision), scoring three points in 18 minutes.
The College hosts Towson University tomorrow at 7 p.m. at Kaplan Arena in the Tribe’s first home game since Jan. 14.
