Drexel’s Defense Stymies Monmouth to Advance to Sunday

Drexel’s Defense Stymies Monmouth to Advance to Sunday

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Rob Washburn

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WASHINGTON, D.C. (March 4, 2023) – Fifth-seeded Drexel used a suffocating defensive effort to down No. 13 Monmouth, 64-45, in the second round of the 2023 Jersey Mike’s CAA Men’s Basketball Championship on Saturday afternoon at the Entertainment & Sports Arena.
 
The Dragons (17-14) advance to play No. 4 UNCW in the quarterfinals at 2:30 p.m. on Sunday. Monmouth dropped to 7-26 on the season.
 
All-CAA forward Amari Williams recorded his 10th double-double of the season with team-highs of 16 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Dragons. Luke House added 11 points, nine of which came in the first half. Monmouth got 10 points and a team-best seven rebounds from Myles Foster and Jakari Spence also scored 10 points.
   
Drexel, the CAA leader in scoring defense, held Monmouth scoreless for the first 11:47 of the game and raced out to an 18-0 lead. Freshman Justin Moore hit a 3-pointer that put the Dragons on top 8-0 and a trey by Lamar Oden, Jr. pushed the margin to 18-0 with 9:41 left in the period. Freshman Jack Collins, who exploded for a career-high 32 points in Friday’s victory over Hampton, snapped the Hawks’ 0-for-13 field goal drought by making a jumper at the 9:13 mark.
 
Drexel extended its advantage to as much as 23 points before Monmouth was able to pull within 35-19 at the half.
The Hawks got as close as 12 (41-29) on a Foster layup with 15:36 remaining. However, Drexel reeled off nine consecutive points midway through the period and took a commanding 58-34 lead with 7:51 to go.


 
Drexel shot 42% from the floor for the game and allowed the fewest points in a CAA Tournament game since 2020. Monmouth, which set season highs for points (100) and field goal percentage (56.7%) against Hampton on Friday, made just 29.8% of its field goal attempts and suffered 18 turnovers. The Dragons’ 45 points allowed were the lowest total allowed in 33 all-time games in the CAA Championship.
 
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