Ron Harper Jr. leads Rutgers past Drexel, 62-57

PISCATAWAY, N.J. (AP) — Ron Harper Jr. had 13 points and eight rebounds to lead Rutgers past Drexel 62-57 on Wednesday night.

Drexel (2-2) has its first lead of the game at 29-28 with just over a minute left to play in the first half after a put-back layup on a fast break by Matey Juric, but Rutgers (3-0) took it back on the next possession on a Geo Baker layup. James Butler’s second-chance layup put Drexel up 31-30 going into the half.

However, Rutgers would promptly take the lead in the second half on a Geo Baker three-pointer on the fast break after Montez Mathis stripped the ball from Mate Okros.

Mathis would have back-to-back dunks off Drexel turnovers just under five minutes into the second half to make it 38-33, causing the Dragons to call a timeout with 15:35 to go. Drexel would re-tie the game at 47 on a Camren Winter three-pointer with 7:42 remaining, before taking a 50-49 advantage on a Jarvis Doles three-pointer from the left wing with 5:30 remaining.

It’s the final lead Drexel would have, not scoring for nearly four minutes as Rutgers went on an 8-0 run before Drexel made a pair of three throws to cut it to 57-52 with 1:32 remaining.

Drexel was led by Zach Walton’s 11 points.

Montez Mathis added 12 points for Rutgers, while Akwasi Yeboah and Geo Baker added 10 points each.

BIG PICTURE

Drexel: Under the direction of fourth-year coach Zach Spiker, the Dragons were picked to finish eighth in the CAA preseason coaches’ poll, while sophomore guard Camren Winters was named to the All-CAA preseason second team.

Rutgers: The Scarlet Knights will leave the cozy confines of the RAC for the first time when they travel to Toronto to take on St. Bonaventure in the third game of a tripleheader in the Naismith Classic before another three-game homestand of winnable games, making a perfect November possible.

UP NEXT

Drexel: At Stephen F. Austin on Saturday.

Rutgers: At St. Bonaventure in Toronto is for the third game of a tripleheader in the Naismith Classic on Saturday night.