Delaware's troubles continue with CAA hoops rival Drexel, as Blue Hens are overmatched

As a season-high crowd of 3,390 settled into its Carpenter Center seats Monday night, the Blue Hens provided an early feast for their eyes by quickly building a 10-point.

This being college basketball, however, 40 minutes are required to determine superiority, leaving most of those fans less enamored with the outcome when they got up to leave.

Once Drexel gained its stride, Delaware could do little to rein in the Dragons, who soared to an 70-60 win that had negative implications for the hosts.

Delaware (17-12 overall) fell into sixth place at 9-7 in Coastal Athletic Association games with two left – the home finale Thursday against Northeastern (12-17, 7-9) and Saturday at Stony Brook (16-13, 9-7). The loss was costly as a top-four finish guarantees a double bye for the CAA Tournament on March 8-12 at the Sports & Entertainment Arena in Washington, D.C.

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Drexel shot 50% from the field to the Blue Hens’ 44.4%, which was undermined by 2-for-15 aim on 3-pointers. Drexel made 6 of its 13 3-pointers and also had 15 second-chance points while winning the rebound battle 36-31.

“Against a team like that you’ve got to be able to put some points up on the board and we just haven’t had it lately,” Delaware coach Martin Ingelsby said after the Hens’ third loss in four games.

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The Dragons (18-11, 12-5) moved into a third-place CAA tie and have now won four straight over Delaware for the first time since 1996 and 1997. It was also Drexel’s third straight win over the Hens in Newark, which it hadn’t done since the 1980s.

This was the 169th meeting in the CAA’s oldest and most-played rivalry, which Delaware leads 85-84. Drexel’s 86-67 win at the Daskalakis Center in January was its most lopsided over Delaware since 1958.

“I thought we really battled for the first 15 minutes or so and had the fight and the toughness and the physicality,” Ingelsby said. “Then they were able to get some 50-50 balls and get out in transition. We didn’t do a great job at the end of the first half against their zone. It kind of paralyzed us and allowed them to get confident.”

Christian Ray’s 12-point/12-rebound double-double was the Hens’ highlight. Jyare Davis scored 11 points and Niels Lane and Gerald Drumgoole Jr. had 10 each. It wasn’t nearly enough.

“Fifty-50 balls,” Ray said. “They beat us to the ground a lot. They beat us to offensive rebounds a lot, especially in big moments. We gotta do a better job than that.”

Guard Justin Moore scored 20 points for Drexel and 6-10 Amari Williams was, as usual, a handful in the post and had 14 points and 11 rebounds.

“Some guys gotta step up and we’ve gotta maybe reinvent ourselves offensively,” Ingelsby said. “Cavan Reilly [1-for-4 shooting] is a threat from the 3-point line. He cannot get anything going. Tyler [Houser] made one [3-pointer] tonight. They did a good job switching on him. And Jyaire has to continue to work. He’s gonna get everybody’s best defensive matchup.”

Contact Kevin Tresolini at ktresolini@delawareonline.com and follow on Twitter @kevintresolini. Support local journalism by subscribing to delawareonline.com and our DE Game Day newsletter.

This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: CAA Tournament seeding on the line as Blue Hens, Drexel duel in hoops