Bruiser Flint has been waiting six years to get an ACC team to Drexel's Daskalakis Athletic Center, hoping that its hostile environment would unravel the major-conference opponent.
But when North Carolina State finally showed up, it was Flint's team that lost its mettle.
The Dragons' big men faltered down the stretch, and the Wolfpack pulled out a 63-56 win in the first round of the NIT.
With four minutes to play, it looked like Frank Elegar (24 points) would be able to carry the Dragons. Flint relied on the big man exclusively - the next six possessions went to him.
But despite getting the better of his defender on all six, he scored just four points and hit two of six from the foul line.
"They made their foul shots, we didn't," Flint concluded. "That's the bottom line."
N.C. State sealed the deal on the other end. With the game tied at 54, Brandon Costner scored an and-1; later, at 57-56, Ben McCauley replicated the feat.
Drexel had been vulnerable inside because defensive specialist Chaz Crawford had fouled out at 2:52 in the most criminal of ways. As N.C. State walked upcourt after a made basket, the senior reached in and fouled the ballhandler 55 feet from the basket.
The first half painted a completely different picture. The DAC's frenzied atmosphere got the better of the Pack, who were coming off of four games in four days at the ACC Tournament.
Guards Courtney Fells and Engin Atsur looked overwhelmed. In the first four minutes, N.C. State coughed up the ball up twice in the backcourt for easy transition baskets.
"It's like a high-school gym," Atsur said. "It took a little while for us to get adjusted - it was pretty loud."
In the halfcourt offense, Drexel met no resistance. By the first media timeout, the Dragons had run the score to 15-4. Six of their seven baskets were layups - four of those were uncontested.
At that point, coach Sidney Lowe moved to a zone defense.
"We wanted to break that momentum, that rhythm, that timing," he explained.
That change led to a few defensive stops. A couple of threes from Fells (10 points, 3-for-3 from deep) helped bring State back.
Its outside successes opened the door for better luck down low. McCauley was the main beneficiary, scoring 18 points.
With 13:25 left, he provided his team with its first lead, 36-35, and fueled a 7-0 run. Flint then called a timeout, during which he came dangerously close to getting a technical. The Dragons never regained their mojo after that.
When his team could have avenged an NCAA snub, Flint, like his team, perhaps picked the wrong time to lose his cool.
