Final Score: Drexel 56, College of Charleston 45
Top Performers:
Frantz Massenat 24 pts (11-12 FT), 4 assts, 3 rebs
Theo Johnson 8 pts, 3 rebs, 2 blks
Last night was the last regular season conference road game for the Cougars. The last time the Cougars defeated a CAA team on the road was back on January 13th - their first conference road game. The game against Drexel followed the exact same script we have seen in nearly every other conference road game save for that one victory over Northeastern: the Cougs could not muster enough offense in the second half (a measly 17 points in the period) and gave away a halftime lead via untimely misses, lack of made free throws and turnovers.
The scoring binge against the Tribe from a few weeks back is like a distant memory now, looking more like an anomaly of an up-and-down season rather than an optimistic turning point. The offense just can't routinely put up enough points to defeat opponents no matter how stingy Wojcik's defense and rebounding squad is. No one in maroon reached double figures. If I gave you Theo Johnson's stat line from last night you would welcome the nice bench performance from the seldom used wing player. But when I list Theo as the Cougar's top performer - it only drives home how putrid (searching for synonyms this late in the season) the CofC offense is.
Frantz Massenat scored half as many points as the entire Cougar team did. He also attempted more free throws by himself than everyone who entered the game for Charleston (12 to 8). Like most opponents this year, the Dragons were held to a season low in point production for the first half. And like most opponents (especially those playing in their own gym) they came out with a reckless abandon in the second half, chasing down loose balls, driving to the rim and punching CofC in the mouth. The Cougars predictably fell apart. The minute the other team does something outside the scouting report is the minute all hope is lost for a Cougar win.
It's a shame the Cougars dropped to 1 and 7 in CAA road games. Fortunately they avoid the play-in game with Hofstra's loss, but the Cougars still need to beat league leader Delaware in the finale to grab the 5th seed (4th is out of the question) and go into the Baltimore tournament with any semblance of momentum. It's also a shame that solid contributions from Wishon and Theo Johnson will go unnoticed. Their numbers were as minimal as the rest of the team, but the bench duo seems to have flipped a switch with bench partner Joe Chealey out.
Wishon was able to bully his way to points by not over-thinking and using his immense size advantage on offense. He also made a few smart passes to cutting teammates in the paint - a trait that gives him value in Wojcik's inside-out system. The man on the receiving end of those passes was Theo Johnson: the only CofC player who does not seem averse to attacking the basket with or without the ball. Theo attempted half the teams eight free throw attempts and converted on 100% of them. He also brought his usual defense and had a couple blocks that seem way easier for him than any other player on the floor.
The Cougars are a different team inside TD Arena and I really want them to send home the hardworking starting trio of Hall, AT and Nori with a revenge victory against Delaware on senior night. Like we've said since the Cougars dropped below .500 in league play, all that matters is the CAA Tournament in Baltimore with this being a one-bid league. The team is still outstanding at the areas of the game you need to win three games in three days. They play defense well enough to stay in every game, they out rebound most opponents and they have pretty good depth - especially if Chealey is back in time.
If we beat Delaware, nab the 5th seed and put up enough points to convince me a trip to Baltimore is not a waste of time and money I'll hold onto that string of hope we'll be cutting down the nets in March.
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