Hawks ride solid defense in sluggish game

Last season, Drexel and Saint Joseph's took center stage on the city's basketball scene when they faced off in the nightcap of the Big 5 Classic. This year, they met in the first game of a doubleheader, and while the setting wasn't as glamorous, the game was just as intense.

The result, on the other hand, was the complete opposite.

Whereas Drexel jumped on St. Joe's early a year ago, it was the Hawks who came out firing last night. They shot 57.1 percent from the field in the first half and never looked back, coasting to a 69-59 win.

Drexel, playing as the home team, started the night looking like a team playing its fourth game in seven days. The Dragons didn't score a basket until more than five minutes had elapsed in the first half, when junior center Chaz Crawford dropped in a hook shot.

"We had some easy layups that we didn't make," Drexel coach Bruiser Flint said of his team's early cold spell. "We can't miss every shot from two feet -- we just can't."

By that time, St. Joe's had already put 10 points on the board. Two of them coming off a high-flying slam dunk by freshman forward Ahmad Nivins, who threw down an alley-oop launched from almost half-court by senior guard Dwayne Lee. The Hawks fans -- who were far more numerous than Drexel's supporters -- roared their approval.

The game was far from clean, though, as the two teams combined for 20 turnovers before halftime.

"The turnovers are disconcerting, to be honest with you," Hawks coach Phil Martelli said. "We have to improve on our handling of the ball."

In the second half, St. Joe's kept up its hot shooting, hitting 47.6 percent from the field and 40 percent of its threes. One of them came from sophomore guard Abdulai Jalloh, who led all scorers with 22 points -- 17 of which came in the second half. The 6-foot-1 Jalloh also pulled down a team-high nine rebounds. Junior guard Bashir Mason led Drexel with 16 points.

Martelli said, though, that he was proudest of Jalloh's defensive effort.

But ever the perfectionist -- and ever the wisecracker -- Martelli still reserved the right to call out Jalloh for pulling down a rebound when the ball appeared to be heading out of bounds off of Drexel.

"I told him that in third grade, you're taught never save the ball under your own basket," Martelli said. "I forgot, he flunked third grade twice, so that's why he did that."

Indeed, Martelli talked about almost everything except his team's offense after the game.

"I think you're going to score the ball if you play good basketball -- somebody's going to score," Martelli said. "The numbers that jump out to me are [Jalloh's] nine rebounds and the five turnovers .... I'm more interested in how the game is played than who scores the points."

The Dragons were able to hit a couple of three-pointers in the final minute to keep things interesting. A missed slam dunk by Crawford kept Drexel from getting within fewer than six points before the final horn sounded.

NOTE: Although the Palestra was about a quarter full at tipoff, the Penn student section remained empty save for a few bleacher seats taken up by the St. Joe's band. Drexel students occupied the lower level behind the east basket, and the students who came down from Hawk Hill sat in the upper deck behind both baskets. In the second half, the Hawks fans behind the west basket tried to move down, but were forced back up by arena security.

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