GAME NOTES: The Drexel Dragons seek a quick turnaround this afternoon as they arrive in Newark to challenge the Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens in Colonial Athletic Association action at the Bob Carpenter Center. On Thursday night, the Dragons were in Virginia and were forced to play a couple of extra periods against Old Dominion, only to lose the contest by a score of 75-71. The setback was the seventh in the last eight games for Drexel, which is now just 3-11 in conference as a result. Meanwhile, the Blue Hens had a close call of their own on Wednesday night, but in their case the result was more favorable with a 51-48 victory over Georgia State on the road. The win was the second in the last three games for the program and pushed them two games over .500 in CAA play at 8-6. Delaware won the first meeting of the season back on January 5th in Philadelphia by a score of 67-63, which means the all-time series between the squads now favors the Blue Hens by a count of 70-66.

Tramayne Hawthorne was one of three players to score in double figures for the Dragons on Thursday night, hitting for 21 points, but he shot just 5-of-15 from three-point range in the loss to ODU. He also managed seven rebounds, four steals and four assists, while Scott Rodgers tried to justify his 5-of-18 effort from the floor with 13 points before fouling out. Frank Elegar accounted for 12 points, nine boards, six blocked shots and three steals, all without a single miscue before he too picked up his fifth foul of the night. Elegar is leading the team in both scoring (14.8 ppg) and rebounding (8.2 rpg), with his close proximity to the basket on offense translating into an impressive 56.2 percent shooting from the field. Hawthorne is now up to 11.3 ppg himself and seems to have found a way to offset his 39.1 percent shooting effort with a team-best 85 assists and 50 steals. Take away the last two overtime games the team has played, and the Dragons have not scored more than 65 points in any game over the last month, explaining the squad's meager 60.5 ppg at the moment.

Trailing by 11 points in the opening minutes of the second half against Georgia State, the Hens proceeded to shoot 59.1 percent from the floor in the frame to come up with the three-point win. Brian Johnson accounted for a team-best 15 points and Herb Courtney had 11 points and five rebounds. Marc Egerson didn't shoot the ball all that well from the field (2-of-7) but in a tight matchup every little bit counts and that goes for his seven points and team-best eight rebounds. After shooting just 19 percent from the field in the first half, Delaware emerged with its fourth CAA road win of the campaign, tying it for the most road conference wins since joining the group. Courtney, who has been known to throw in a poorly played game here and there, still leads the unit with 13.7 ppg, despite his mere 29.9 percent behind the three-point line and 64.5 percent at the free-throw line. Egerson adds 12.8 ppg and a team-best 6.6 rpg, but he too is having his issues shooting the ball from the floor at just 35.4 percent, as is Alphonso Dawson (10.9 ppg, 4.8 rpg) at 39.3 percent.

After an exhausting effort on Thursday night, one that didn't fall in their favor, it's not hard to imagine the Dragons coming out flat in this meeting.