Drexel beats Loyola, but it isn't easy

BALTIMORE - There will be many more difficult games for Drexel this season. Trips to Louisville and Syracuse await them next month. Last night, the Dragons won a game they led throughout. It still was anything but easy.

Drexel's 75-72 win over Loyola in their season opener before 1,277 at Reitz Arena wasn't secured until the Greyhounds' Brian Rudolph missed a desperation three-point shot at the buzzer.

It shouldn't have been that hard.

The bigger and much tougher Dragons scored the game's first eight points and raced to a 30-12 lead with 8 minutes, 57 seconds left in the half. Any illusions of an easy opener vanished when the Dragons' lead shrank to four points 20 seconds into the second half.

Loyola got within four five times and even two when Rudolph hit a three-pointer with 3.1 seconds left to cut the lead to 74-72.

Chris Fouch, who led the Dragons with 23 points, made one of two free throws with 1.9 seconds left. It was the only one of his 12 free throw attempts he missed.

Dragons coach Bruiser Flint laughed when he recalled the not-so-easy game his team led all the way.

"How about that?" Flint said. "The last 2 minutes of the game, we didn't finish it up. You want all your wins to be a little easier."

Fouch hit just five of his 12 field goal attempts and threw up three three-point air balls, but hit 11 straight free throws in the final 6:21.

"If my shot's not falling, one thing I can always rely on is my free throws," Fouch said. "I know I can get points there."

Fortunately, every time Loyola came close, there was Fouch.

"I never felt the game was slipping away, but we weren't doing the things that we needed to do to keep them at bay. We kept giving them chances," Flint said.

Said Fouch: "I was a little off on the defensive end. Coach has been preaching that to me since I got here."

"I got to get him to play some 'D,' " Flint said. "You all talk about his points. I scream at him for his defense."

When the Greyhounds' Robert Olson hit a layup with 6:21 to play, a double foul was called, and Fouch, last year's Colonial Athletic Association rookie of the year, hit two free throws that started the Dragons on a 9-0 run to give them a 66-53 lead with 4:04 to play.

Turnovers and missed free throws gave Loyola additional chances, but the Greyhounds couldn't convert.

"The problem was at the end of the first half, we played bad," Flint said.

Drexel's Samme Givens had 12 points - 10 of them in the early run - and 12 rebounds.

Flint showed off his two prized freshmen: 6-4 Frantz Massenat and 6-8 Dartaye Ruffin. In the game's early going, Massenat looked like a player in his first college game. In the second half, Massenat offered a glimpse of his potential when he drove and leaped for a pretty, lefthanded dunk. A few minutes later, it was a twisting layup. He finished with eight. Ruffin had nine.

In his 10th year at Drexel, Flint won his 150th game. He won't get a chance for his 151st until next Saturday when the Dragons play at Penn. Their first home game isn't until Nov. 28.

"Trip back home - Bru's not cursing and yelling," Givens said. "It's going to be a good ride home."