Dre Davis and Tray Jackson scored 12 points apiece as Seton Hall defeated visiting Drexel 66-49 Wednesday night in Newark, N.J.
Three days after beating Rutgers 45-43 on the road, the Pirates opened up a 49-18 lead on Drexel and went on cruise control from there. The Dragons, despite shooting an abysmal 26.9 percent for the game, made Seton Hall sweat it out by clawing back within 11 in the closing minutes.
Al-Amir Dawes scored 10 points and Kadary Richmond posted team highs of nine rebounds and four assists to go with eight points for Seton Hall (7-4), which won its third straight game.
Amari Williams had game highs of 14 points and 11 rebounds for Drexel (5-6). Coletrane Washington added 11 points and Yame Butler scored all 10 of his points in the second half.
It took just 10:08 for Seton Hall to establish a double-digit lead it wouldn’t relinquish. Jackson made consecutive 3-pointers to set off an 8-0 run that pushed the Pirates’ lead to 22-9. Richmond assisted the second triple with a nifty one-handed pass behind his back.
Williams’ jumper with 1:01 left ended a nearly six-minute scoring drought and served as the final points of the half, as Seton Hall hit the locker room up 31-16.
Jackson led all scorers at halftime with 10 points. Williams and Washington had eight points apiece for Drexel, and the rest of the team was held scoreless, shooting a combined 0 for 14.
Seton Hall guard Femi Odukale was injured late in the first half. He could put no weight on his left leg and had to be helped off the court.
The Pirates rattled off 14 straight points early in the second half while the Dragons went scoreless for another 5:23. Davis concluded the run by beating double teams for back-to-back layups, being fouled on the latter. His foul shot made it 49-18 with 12:56 to go.
The Dragons finally got help for Williams and Washington and clawed back thanks to an 11-0 run, with Butler sinking three straight shots for eight points. On the other end, Seton Hall missed seven shots in a row.
Drexel then went on an 11-2 run, capped by Butler’s long baseline 2-pointer, to cut the deficit to 57-46 with 3:05 left. But Dawes made his second 3-pointer of the day for the final dagger.
Seton Hall turned 10 offensive rebounds into 12 second-chance points.
–Field Level Media