Tip off: 7 PM EST
Spread: Drex -6
Total: 128
DREXEL
Last season would have to be considered a success for the Drexel Dragons. They finished 21-10 with a 11-7 Colonial Conference record, and lost to Virginia Commonwealth by 2 in the CAA quarterfinals. They played a slow paced and stingy game, both giving up and scoring less than a point per possession.
They were a Jaime Skeen buzzer shot away from winning the CAA and ending up in the big dance. Almost every season they hold conference opponents to under a point per possession, too. Still, Drexel is usually lucky to make the NIT, and this year doesn’t figure to be any different as the Dragons have stumbled out of the gate 3-4.
They need to improve their offense to get anywhere, and so far they haven’t. They have only scored 58.9 points per game this season, which ranks amongst the worst in the country (320 of 344).
Two of their three wins have been big blowouts. They beat Rider by 18 and beat Wintrhop by 23, but have lost all of their games by double digits, too, save a 5 point loss to Norfolk.
Part of the problem is that all of Drexel’s point production comes from three players: Frantz Massenat, Damion Lee, and Chris Fouch, all average between 10 and 14 a game, while no other Drexel players are in double figures. Moreover, Massenat isn’t exactly efficient. He’s shooting only 40.3% from the floor and has already had a 4 of 13 game, 2 of 9, 2 of 7…you get the idea. If not spared by 7 of 10 and 6 of 10 performances against Rider and Winthrop, respectively, Massenat would be shooting 30.7% from the floor.
NIAGARA
Last season was dreadful for the Niagara Eagles. They finished with under ten wins and had a 5-13 MAAC record. They los to Marist by 12 in the opening round of the MAAC tournament and obviously did not get invited to any post season tournaments.
The main reason was that they lost so many players to graduation. They lost 0.13 points per possession from last year to the year before, and were ranked 324th of 344 in offensive efficiency last season. All MAAC 2nd team point guard Anthony Nelson is gone, but they do return the rest of their rotation.
So far, it seems things may be better. The Purple Eagles did get blown out by #25 Missouri, their only real test so far, but they have fared 4-5 against the rest of their non-ranked opponents. They were riding a 3 game losing streak prior to Saturday night’s victory over Hartford. Niagara led by as much as 17 that game and received 20 points from Marvin Jordan and 25 from Juan’ya Green.
Green, a 6’3″ freshman guard, is averaging 19.7 points per game, but there are indications he may be capable of bigger things still. He scored 35 in a 4 point loss to Fairfield, and has had 4 other games with 20+ points. He is also picking up 3.1 assist per night and collecting 3.5 boards per contest. Look for Green to make the first team all MAAC and quite possibly (even likely) win MAAC freshman of the year.
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