Drexel Travels To Towson For CAA Match-Up
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Drexel will head down to Maryland for a Thursday night Colonial Athletic Association match-up with Towson.
The Dragons have lost three straight to fall to 7-12 on the season (1-5 CAA). The last two defeats have been tough battles with Delaware in Newark (72-66) and Hofstra at the DAC (91-86).
"We've done a good job fighting," Drexel head coach Zach Spiker tells KYW Newsradio. "Certainly it's a tough stretch but I think our guys have the right mindset. We were able to address the things we needed to address and worked hard. We've had a couple of days of practice now and get back at it [Thursday]. Offensively, we've put up some great numbers, shoot 50% and single-digit turnovers [in the loss to Hofstra]. But you've got to do both ends of the basketball [court] and we're not defending effectively enough in each game to make something happen."
The Dragons are allowing 78.3 points per game and opponents are shooting 46% from the field against them.
Offensively, Drexel has five players averaging double figures this season with junior guard Tramaine Isabell (18.7 ppg) and sophomore guard Kurk Lee (13.8 ppg) leading the way.
Towson is 13-6 on the season and 3-3 in the CAA. The Tigers are coming off a 99-73 win over William & Mary last time out on Saturday.
"They're a very, very physical team," Spiker says. "Towson has traditionally been one of the leading rebounding teams in our conference, offensively and defensively. What separates them a little bit this year is they are shooting the ball better from three and they've got a little bit more depth on the perimeter."
Spiker talks about what the Dragons have to do to pick up a road victory against the Tigers.
"I think the biggest key is we have to defend and rebound at a better rate," he says. "To have success in the CAA, your defense has to travel and you have to compete like crazy on the defensive end. We're going to have to take care of the basketball for sure. But most importantly, we've got to force them to take tough shots and we've got to go get the rebounds."
Drexel and Towson will get underway at 7:00pm.
You can follow Matt on Twitter @Mattleonkyw.