Cam Wynter leads Drexel to 82-58 win over William & Mary; La Salle loses to Davidson

Wynter posted his third career double-double with 19 points and 11 assists to lead the Dragons to their first CAA win of the season. The Explorers got off to another slow start and couldn't recover

Drexel guard Camren Wynter passes the ball around William & Mary defenders in the first half of a game at Drexel’s Daskalakis Athletic Center in Philadelphia on Saturday, Jan. 16, 2021.Read moreHEATHER KHALIFA / Staff Photographer

by Joe Juliano

Published Jan. 16, 2021, 5:59 p.m. ET

When Drexel point guard Cam Wynter gets his teammates into the flow of the game from the opening tip, good things usually happen for the Dragons.

And after losing back-to-back games last weekend to College of Charleston, Drexel desperately needed good things to happen on Saturday.

Wynter notched his third career double-double with 19 points and 11 assists and the Dragons shot 61% from the field to roll to an 82-58 victory over William & Mary at Daskalakis Athletic Center for their first Colonial Athletic Association win of the season.

Drexel (6-4, 1-2 CAA) also received a game-high 20 points from Zack Walton, who shot 8-of-10 from the floor with four three-point baskets. James Butler and T.J. Bickerstaff added 12 points apiece and the bench contributed 16. Wynter made the whole thing go.

“I just wanted to come out aggressive, really just push the pace, make sure the game was going at my pace,” said Wynter, who committed just one turnover. “I felt like we had to come out aggressive. We dropped two last week that we really wanted back. So I think we just came out and responded today.”

Wynter had 13 points and six dimes in the first half when the Dragons used a 19-2 run to take a 12-point lead, only to see the Tribe (3-6, 1-3) close to 38-32 at the break. The visitors were still within six midway through the half when Walton sparked a 15-2 spurt with seven points, ending the run with a dunk.

That put the Dragons up, 66-47, with 7 minutes, 47 seconds to play and they closed the game with a 10-2 run. But with the rematch coming Sunday, there was no time to celebrate.

“We have to be ready to go,” Drexel coach Zach Spiker said. “This game will mean absolutely nothing other than motivate them even more and we need to make sure we’re locked in and focused on details.”

Davidson 77, La Salle 53

At Tom Gola Arena, the Explorers fell into a deep first-half hole from which it could not climb out for the third consecutive game, and lost their third straight Atlantic 10 Conference contest.

La Salle (5-8, 2-4 A-10) connected on just 4 of its first 17 attempts and trailed 28-9 in the first 12 ½ minutes. Facing the same 19-point gap entering the second half, the Explorers scored the first six points of the period to close to 44-31, but the Wildcats (8-5, 4-2) scored the next seven points to go up by 20 and coasted home.

“I wish I had an answer,” La Salle coach Ashley Howard said. “We’ve tried different lineups. We’ve tried different offensive strategies. We’ve just got to keep encouraging our guys to go into the games full of confidence and hopefully we can get some clean looks that we can convert and give our guys a boost.”

Scott Spencer led the Explorers with 12 points. La Salle held Kellen Grady, who came into the game with a 17.6-point average, to four points but Carter Collins picked up the slack with 24.

Women’s basketball:

Drexel 64, William & Mary 58 – In Williamsburg, Va., Senior Mariah Leonard posted her first career double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds and hit five key free throws down the stretch to give the Dragons (6-2, 3-0 CAA) the victory over the Tribe (4-6, 1-4).