Is Drexel a sneaky NCAA Tournament contender? A big final month will tell the tale.

Drexel started off more than slow.

After an offseason that saw Zach Spiker’s squad lose four of its five starters to the transfer portal, the Dragons went 6-7 in nonconference play, dropping all three of their Big 5 matchups in the process. The team started its Coastal Athletic Conference campaign looking for relief but was confronted with more of the same: They lost three in a row to tip off conference play. The season looked like a loss.

Then, on Jan. 8, a switch seemed to flip. The Dragons shut down Stony Brook, limiting the Seawolves to just 37 points in a win. From there, Drexel started rattling off victories powered by its defense, winning six of seven games to move into conference contention. They’ve held opponents to an average of 56.3 points over that stretch

Drexel (12-11, 6-4 CAA) is now in a tie for third place ahead of Thursday’s matchup (7 p.m., FloSports) at Campbell (10-13, 4-6 CAA) The Dragons will receive a bye to the CAA Tournament if they stay in the top four.

The potential for the program’s first NCAA Tournament berth since 2021 has offered some guarded optimism for the Dragons.

“I don’t feel a recent surge in excitement and fun after winning,” junior guard Shane Blakeney said. “We’re all taking a deep breath like this is what it should have been like. We’re frustrated because we should have been playing like this, and we also still feel like we haven’t played our best yet.”

Added junior guard Kevon Vanderhorst: “We’re constantly learning through our losses … It’s not necessarily that we’ve just had a reawakening. It’s [that] we’ve been learning the whole time.”

In their last outing on Saturday, Drexel outlasted North Carolina A&T, 61-60, in a slugfest that came down to the final whistle.

With no timeouts and down by one point, the Dragons had to advance the length of the court in 3.2 seconds. After a bit of backcourt misdirection, the ball was inbounded to Vanderhorst. The guard beat his defender down the court, converting a contested scoop at the buzzer to win the game.

“We practice shots like that and practice ‘Three seconds on the clock somebody has to go get a bucket,’” Vanderhorst said. “In terms of just our process, nothing really has changed here.”

Although the team has practiced that situation countless times, hitting the buzzer-beater in a game garnered national attention. Vanderhorst’s sprint to the bucket landed third on SportsCenter’s daily Top 10 plays feature.

“It’s definitely been a surreal moment,” said Vanderhorst. “I think that’s the perfect word for it. Growing up, SportsCenter Top 10 is that show you turn on in the morning [when] you want to see all the highlights from the day before.”

Vanderhorst, who is averaging 9.6 points, is part of an offense that boasts five players scoring eight or more points per game. Blakeney averages a team-high 13.3 points. The balanced offensive approach has made it difficult for opposing defenses to focus on a single player.

“Our coaches recruited talent. It’s shown in a lot of plays especially through this stretch of the season,” Blakeney said. “Teams can’t really be surprised when we play together, we look good. … We play fast, play connected.”

Drexel has been dominant defensively. The program logged the best defensive effective field goal percentage in the NCAA during the month of January. Since the start of conference play, Drexel is allowing 6.8 fewer points than Hampton, the CAA’s second best statistical defense.

Despite the team’s prowess on defense, not one Drexel player can be found in the top 10 in total steals or blocks among CAA players since the beginning of conference play. Like the offense, Drexel’s suffocating defense has been a team effort.

The Dragons have had the luxury of not leaving campus in two weeks, playing their last three at home. Starting with Campbell on Thursday, though, five of their final eight games are away. Despite boasting a 10-3 record at home, the team is a combined 2-8 in away and neutral games.

“I think this home stretch was nice because it’s given us confidence a little bit,” Vanderhorst said. “In those past games that we had away in Monmouth and Towson, I think dudes were really just getting the hang of sticking together through adversity.

“[Doing that] on the road and [in] those environments is super important, so I don’t think it’s anything that needs to change. I think we’ve kind of gotten the hang of it now.”