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Drexel breezes past St. Francis, 63-42

It's now 20 years since St. Francis (Pa.) last beat Drexel in December 1991 as the Dragons quickly established Saturday afternoon that the Red Flash's drought against them wasn't going to end on this visit.

Drexel's Aquil Younger goes to the basket in the team's 63-42 win over St. Francis. (Michael S. Wirtz/Staff Photographer)
Drexel's Aquil Younger goes to the basket in the team's 63-42 win over St. Francis. (Michael S. Wirtz/Staff Photographer)Read more

It's now 20 years since St. Francis (Pa.) last beat Drexel in December 1991 as the Dragons quickly established Saturday afternoon that the Red Flash's drought against them wasn't going to end on this visit.

Whether Drexel was in a rush to celebrate New Year's Eve or St. Francis mentally never arrived at the Daskalakis Athletics Center, the Dragons jumped to a 21-5 lead and were never threatened en route to a 63-42 victory.

Coach Bruiser Flint's only concern was that his squad not go into cruise control after gaining a sizable lead.

"That's how you lose games," Flint said. "The other team sees you're doing that and they're told keep playing, you're going to be let back into the game.

"Their coaches have been scouting you so they know your tendencies."

The Dragons (8-4) altered their production in this one after senior forward Samme Givens had scored a career-high 31 points in Wednesday night's home win over Fairfield.

This time Drexel offered a balanced attack with freshman guard Damion Lee scoring 14 points, Givens, a graduate of the Academy of the New Church, scoring 11, and junior guards Derrick Thomas and Chris Fouch each collecting 10 points.

Dragons junior forward Daryl McCoy pulled down 14 rebounds in a category Drexel dominated 37-20.

Anthony Ervin scored 14 points for the Red Flash (3-10) of the Northeast Conference and Scott Eatherton scored 10 points.

Substitute Earl Brown, a graduate of Imhotep Charter, made a homecoming visit scoring two points in 15 minutes of play off the bench.

However, Atlantic City High graduate Umar Shannon, the Red Flash leading scorer, was lost for the season in the first game in November when he tore his ACL playing against Virginia Commonwealth.

"We can't start on 17-2 clips and that's the way we've been the last five games," St. Francis coach Don Friday said about falling behind. "In the second half we were either going to compete or get run out of the building and I thought our kids competed in the last 11 minutes.

"Drexel is a good team," he said. "They rebound, they have good balance. We have to get back on the bus because we have a ton of work to do."

Thus Drexel said goodbye to 2011 and nonconference play with a six-game win streak and head off to resume competition in the Colonial Athletic Association, where they were picked as the favorite by the conference coaches.

The Dragons, after a loss at rival Delaware on Dec. 3, travel to Georgia State on Monday night and then host Towson Wednesday making it three games in five days on the current stretch.

"It's OK," Flint said with an eye to March Madness. "You have to play and win three games in three days if you want to win the (CAA) tournament."