With a dominant win over rival Delaware, all of a sudden, Drexel has become the Big 5 team to beat

The last time Drexel started 7-0 in conference play, Bill Clinton was U.S. president and Independence Day was the No. 1 movie in theaters.

But in an 86-67 win over Delaware on Saturday, the Dragons (14-6, 7-0 CAA) remained undefeated in the Coastal Athletic Association behind seven straight for the first time since the 1995-96 season. The last time Drexel had a start like this, it finished 17-1 in the North Atlantic Conference (now America East) and made it to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

Justin Moore put up 18 points to lead the Dragons, but a key on Saturday, and throughout their entire run, has been their depth beyond Moore and CAA Preseason Player of the Year Amari Williams. Senior forward Lucas Monroe even got in on the party as both he and Williams finished with 14 points, with Monroe adding a game-high 12 rebounds.

The Dragons had seven players who played more than 15 minutes against Delaware (11-8, 3-3), and five finished in double figures. Gerald Drumgoole Jr. led the Blue Hens (11-8, 3-3) with 18 points, and Jyáre Davis had 17 points and seven boards.

“We have a 1-0 mindset,” Monroe said. “So we’re 1-0 today. Tomorrow, 0-0, trying to get to 1-0.”

Drexel’s rivalry with conference foe Delaware has been lopsided lately, with Drexel winning its third straight.

“It’s validating to see guys who work have success,” Drexel coach Zach Spiker said. “But there’s plenty of film. We want to sharpen our edge because we want to be better.”

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Drexel’s three-point shooting was a major part of the Dragons’ win over Villanova in the Big 5 Classic, as they shot 8-for-16 from behind the arc to pull off the 57-55 upset. While that 50% shooting percentage on Dec. 2 was an outlier at that point in Drexel’s season, over the last nine games, it’s become more common.

The Dragons also shot 50% from deep against the Blue Hens, with sophomore guard Kobe MaGee (15 points) coming off the bench to connect on all three of his three-point attempts.

“Throughout the last few games, someone’s had [a] shaky first half or second half, but you don’t really notice it because you’ve got someone coming off the bench,” Williams said. “So it’s about having that depth and 14 guys who can just do the same thing.”

Excluding one dismal 2-for-12 outing against North Carolina A&T on Jan. 11, Drexel’s three-point percentage has not dipped below 31% since the winning streak began.

“I think it’s a credit to our assistant coaches, who are working with our guys, and our players,” Spiker said. “We’ve got high-character guys that believe in the process.”

This season, Monroe moved a couple blocks from Walnut Street to Market to join the Dragons after three seasons playing for Penn.

Monroe only joined the Dragons’ starting rotation in late December, starting his first game in a Drexel uniform for their win over Albany on Dec. 16. He has remained a starter for the next nine games — including all seven of Drexel’s conference victories.

The Abington native, who averaged 4.4 points over three seasons with the Quakers, was never known as a shooter. But against the Blue Hens, Monroe made some difficult shots, connecting on several jumpers in the paint. He matched his career high with 14 points on 7-for-9 shooting, capping it with a dunk with 10 seconds left to put an exclamation point on the win.

“Today, I think I caught the ball and was more aggressive than normal, getting into pull-up jumpers and kind of eating up the space quicker than I’ve been doing,” Monroe said. “So that’s something I’ve worked on a lot. It’s just I haven’t put it into the games yet until today. So hopefully I can keep getting better at that. And I think if I’m scoring the ball more, it makes us better.”

Drexel is off until Thursday. It’ll look to make it eight straight in a road matchup against Towson (7 p.m., FloHoops). Then, it’s a quick turnaround with North Carolina A&T at home on Saturday (2 p.m., FloHoops).