Dec. 3, 2002

Final Stats?|? Quotes

EASTON, Pa. (www.lafayette.edu) - The Lafayette men's basketball team dropped its home opener to Drexel 65-47 on Tuesday night at Kirby Sports Center.

The Leopards struggled to find an offensive rhythm, shooting 31 percent from the field, while committing 20 turnovers.

Drexel (3-1) jumped out to an early 9-4 lead behind six points from Bethlehem, Pa. native Danny Hinds. The Dragons then used a potent inside-outside attack to stretch their lead to 23-10 with 7:50 left to play. Robert Battle swished two baby hook shots and Jeremiah King and Phil Goss each drained a three-pointer during the spurt.

Lafayette cut the lead to 25-14 on pairs of free throws by Jamie Hughes and Mike Farrell with 5:44 to play in the opening half. King followed with a steal and went the length of the court for a layup to send Drexel to the locker room with a 33-17 halftime advantage.

Lafayette (0-4) made a couple of runs in the second half. Andrew Pleick drove the lane and found an open Farrell under the basket for an easy layup, cutting the lead to 35-21 with 18:07 left to play.

Then with 10:30 to go, Andrei Capusan snagged one of his five rebounds and threw the outlet to Drew Dawson who fired a pass the length of the court to Farrell for a layup, making the score 49-29 Drexel.

Winston Davis sliced through the lane for a thundering dunk at the four-minute mark for two of his team-high 14 points. Farrell set a new career-high with 14 rebounds to go along with eight points, while Rob Dill added eight points for the Leopards.

Goss connected on one of his four three-pointers to give Drexel its largest lead of the game, 57-29 with eight minutes to go. Goss led the Dragons with 14 points, while Battle finished with 11 and Tim Whitworth chipped in with 10.

Lafayette returns to action on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. when Centenary visits Kirby Sports Center.