Wright-Foreman’s hot second half leads Hofstra over Drexel

Drexel did a good job of defending the country’s second-leading scorer in the first half. The second half was a different story.

Hofstra combo guard Justin Wright-Foreman, who entered the game averaging 26.6 points, scored 23 of his 32 points in the second half, as the Pride defeated the Dragons, 80-77, on Thursday night, at the Daskalakis Athletic Center.

With the win, Hofstra (24-6, 14-3) clinched the No. 1 seed in the upcoming Colonial Athletic Association tournament. Drexel fell to 13-17, 7-10 and will close the regular season Saturday at home against Northeastern.

The Dragons had a chance to tie the game but missed a three-pointer at the buzzer.

“Hats off to him; that is why he is probably the player of the year [in the CAA], and I think that is the least-debated topic in our league,” Drexel coach Zach Spiker said of Wright-Foreman.

After shooting 4 for 13 and being held to nine first-half points, Wright-Foreman shot 8 for 10 in the second half.

“I definitely was more determined in the second half,” Wright-Foreman said. “I saw my team needed points, and my coach was on me to be aggressive and attack the bigs.”

Drexel’s depth was tested, with senior guard Troy Harper suffering a season-ending foot injury during practice last week. Harper averaged 15.8 points per game and had attempted 205 free throws, which was 19th nationally.

The 6-foot-2 Wright-Foreman, who attracted six NBA scouts to the game, made many of the key baskets down the stretch, but Drexel kept hanging in.

After Hofstra’s Desure Buie made two free throws, a corner three by Drexel’s Trevor John cut the margin to 78-76 with 9.7 seconds left.

Wright-Foreman hit two free throws with 8.0 seconds left, making it 80-76. He then fouled out on Camren Wynter’s three-point attempt with two seconds left. Wynter made one of the first two free throws and purposely missed the third. The rebound went out of bounds off Hofstra, giving Drexel the ball with 1.2 seconds left.

Alihan Demir got a good look from the top of the key, but his three-point shot bounced off the rim.

“I liked that look for him, and nobody wishes it went down more than he did,” Spiker said about the last shot..

Demir, a 6-9 junior, led Drexel with 24 points, while John had 20, and 6-8 sophomore James Butler scored a career-high 18 points. Wynter added 15 points, eight assists, and seven rebounds.

John, a graduate transfer from Cal Poly, set the Drexel single-season record with his first made three-pointer. That gave him 93, breaking the mark of 92 set by Dominick Mejia in 2005-06. Wynter tied the single-season Drexel freshman record of 160 assists, set by junior Kurk Lee, who is injured.

Hofstra led, 39-33, at halftime, with Eli Pemberton scoring 12 of his 15 points. Then, Wright-Foreman took over.