Senior guard Scott Rodgers had 26 points and nine rebounds as the Drexel Men's Basketball team led wire-to-wire and earned a 70-52 win over Hofstra on Wednesday evening.
Junior forward Miklos Szabo (Szeghalom, Hungary - pictured) came off the bench to score a career-high 12 points for the Pride, which falls to 10-7 overall and 2-4 in the CAA with the loss. Drexel improves to 7-8 overall and 3-3 in the CAA.
Drexel jumped out to a quick 5-0 lead on five points from forward Kenny Tribbett and never trailed. The Dragons jumped up by as many as 20 points in the first half on two Rodgers foul shots, making the score 34-14 with 4:04 left. The Pride whittled the lead down to 36-22 at the break on a follow-up from Szabo, and got within 38-27 early in the second half, as Szabo scored five quick points to get the lead down to 11.
However, Drexel answered back with back-to-back three-pointers from sophomore guard Jamie Harris and Rodgers to push the lead up to 17 and two foul shots from junior forward Leon Spencer made the score 46-27. Hofstra again got the lead down to 11 points at 52-41 on a jumper from sophomore guard Charles Jenkins (Queens. NY), but senior guard Tramayne Hawthorne answered with a three-pointer.
Junior guard Cornelius Vines (Syracuse, NY) hit his third three-pointer of the game to pull the Pride within 55-44 with 7:20 left, and a tip-in by junior guard Tony Dennison (Long Island City, NY) had Hofstra within 57-46. But Spencer and Harris made six straight foul shots to push the lead up to 17 and the Pride was unable to threaten again.
Vines tied Szabo for team-high honors with 12 points, while Jenkins added 10 before fouling out. Spencer was the only other player besides Rodgers to score in double figures for Drexel with 12 points, including 8-8 at the foul line. The Dragons as a team were 14-14 at the foul line in the second half.
Hofstra will next be in action when it returns to the Mack Sports Complex on Saturday for a 12 p.m. contest against Northeastern. The game will be sponsored by Modell's and will be televised live on the MSG+ Network.