Drexel 86, Bryant 74: Stats, highlights, and reaction from the Dragons’ win
Drexel snapped its two-game losing streak behind a couple of career-high performances.
Entering the season, Drexel coach Zach Spiker said that Zach Walton was a player that a lot of people didn’t know.
That might have changed Wednesday night. Walton put together his best performance as a senior guard finished with 32 points to help lift the Dragons over Bryant, 86-74.
Whenever they needed him, he came up big. Bryant had trailed by double-digits and rallied to tie the game midway through the second half until Walton hit a three-pointer. With a little over three minutes remaining, Walton made eye-contact with point guard Camren Wynter and sneaked down the baseline for a basket and gave the Dragons a comfortable 11-point lead.
Keys to the game
Walton scored 22 of his game-high 32 points in the second half and he did so coming off the bench. He finished 12-of-17 shooting from the field and 6 of 9 from three-point range.
James Butler added his fourth double-double in six games, with 18 points and 12 rebounds. Cam Wynter had a career-high 14 assists.
As a team, Drexel had 28 assists on 31 made baskets and went 12 of 25 from three-point range.
Quotable
“I don’t want to take double-doubles for granted, but to have 18 and 12 is just like another day at the office for [Butler],” Spiker said.
“I was going. I had the hot hand,” Walton said. “I just take advantage of the opportunity no matter if I’m starting or coming off the bench.”
“We are a really unselfish team,” Spiker said. “We’ve had some numbers that have made us look differently, but we know those are outliers. Twenty-eight assists on 31 buckets is way more of what we’re about."
Takeaways
After a season-high 31 turnovers against Stephen F. Austin, taking care of the ball was emphasized all week. Drexel only had two turnovers in the first half and finished with a season-low of nine.
Wynter’s passing ability, Butler flirting with a double-double, and Walton being a microwave off the bench are pretty much a given. The fourth player to emerge is not, but today Matey Juric and Mate Okros combined for 21 points and 5-of-9 shooting from three.