PHILADELPHIA — When Drexel head coach Zach Spiker saw the CAA schedule for the first time, the first thing that he noticed was a three-game road trip to open conference play, and another three-game road trip in mid-February. But with those two trips now behind Drexel, the Dragons finish the season with a three-game homestand.
That homestand started on Saturday as Drexel took down Charleston inside the Daskalakis Athletic Center 64-55, a game that the Dragons led by as much as 19. Aided by Thursday’s win at Delaware, Drexel swept a weekend pair for the first time all season, something that had been eating at the team.
“It’s been incredibly frustrating for competitors, and we’ve got a program of competitors,” Spiker said. “It bothers Victor Panov. Kobe [MaGee] doesn’t sleep. He’s pissed off. [When] we don’t get what we want from a weekend, it just creates an edge.”
With one more weekend in the CAA regular season and both of those games coming at home (against Hampton on Thursday and Monmouth on Saturday), Drexel has a chance to continue building momentum heading into the CAA Tournament.
For this program, as it always does, it starts on the defensive side of the ball.
“These guys don’t know the difference between extra emphasis and nonstop talk [about defense],” Spiker said. “I thought the early start defensively got us in a really good spot.”
And Drexel strung together 12 straight stops in the first half against Charleston, going on a 16-0 run to grab a lead that it would never relinquish.
That fiery competitiveness was evident from the Dragons throughout Saturday’s win, building out a 30-21 halftime lead over the CAA’s fourth-place team. Leading the way was a pissed off MaGee who shot 5-for-9 from the field with 14 points as the only double-digit scorer in the first half.
Drexel held that lead at a double-digit margin throughout most of the second half behind junior forward Cole Hargrove, who took over. After scoring just a single point in the first, he finished with 11 points, four rebounds and two steals.
Though the Cougars did manage to pull within seven on an 8-0 run with under two minutes left, MaGee all but sealed the upset victory with a pair of free throws in the final seconds.
Finishing with a game-high 19 points, MaGee was adamant after the win that this past weekend is a representation of what Drexel can achieve with the momentum behind them.
“This was our first weekend that we won 2-0 on Thursday and Saturday,” MaGee said. “It helps build character. We know what this conference is about and that every game we’re going to have to win differently, but it shows us that we’re capable of doing so. When we play together, we play at our best, and it helps us build consistency.”
You wouldn’t necessarily guess it based on the Dragons resume with a 15-14 record at 10th in the CAA, but this is a team that’s been an issue for some of the conference’s leaders.
Two tightly contested losses to first-place Towson, taking second-place UNCW to double-OT and beating third-place William & Mary in early February, all culminated in this win over Charleston.
It’s made the Dragons a challenge on any night in the CAA and maybe that bodes well late in the season, but for Spiker, it showcases the growth and development of his roster over the course of the year.
“We can lament and look back at all these close [games] or we can say how much did we learn,” Spiker said. “Getting these two wins, it just validates our process. We lost five of six [earlier this year]. Did that look like a team that lost five of six? No. To me, that looks like a team that’s gonna threaten anybody in March.”
Between losing talent to the portal this past offseason, significant injuries, and of course, a tough conference schedule, Drexel has had to scratch and claw for every win earned this season.
Battled tested and now preparing to round out the regular-season at home, it’s an opportunity Drexel is eager to take advantage of before heading down to the conference championship.
“[Hampton and Monmouth] are two teams we lost to so we better show some progress and be better or we’re going to lose to them again,” Spiker said. “We need to have good practices. They’ve got good players, and they’ve beat us. We’ve gotta be ready to do it.”
The CAA has produced some magical runs over the past few seasons, and if Drexel can continue that momentum, the Dragons are a team nobody in this conference wants to see come March.
