Nov. 29, 2005

Box Score

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Abdulai Jalloh scored a career-high 22 points and led a balanced scoring effort as Saint Joseph's defeated Drexel 69-59 in a rugged intercity game Tuesday night at the Palestra.

Jalloh scored 17 in the second half as the Hawks (3-1) led wire-to-wire but still had to fight off a Drexel challenge late in the game. The Dragons (3-4) played for the fifth time in nine days and lost their fourth straight game.

Dwayne Lee scored 16 points for the Hawks, as did Chet Stachitas, who hit a big 3-pointer with 4:33 left after Drexel pulled to within 52-45. Drexel again pulled to within seven at 63-56 with 53.9 seconds left, but Saint Joseph's free throw shooting - the Hawks hit 12 straight down the stretch - helped ice the game.

Three days after allowing 100 points in a loss to Davidson, Saint Joseph's played ferocious defense in the first half and built a 10-0 lead in the first 5:16 of Tuesday's game.

Lee scored 11 of his 16 points in the first half and the Hawks held Drexel to just 32 percent (8-for-25) from the floor in the first half.

Frank Elegar scored 13 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for Drexel, which got a team-high 16 points from guard Bashir Mason. The Dragons hit 9-of-17 from beyond the 3-point line to keep the game close. Drexel's leading scorer, Dominick Mejia, was benched for all but three minutes of the second half and scored just eight points.