Ricks, Gayman put up big numbers in Philly

Sunday, November 10

Philadelphia, Pa.

1 p.m. CT

Abilene Christian

Drexel

11/11/2019 12:14:00 AM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

PHILADELPHIA— After a solid debut in their home opener, the defending Southland Conference tournament champions met their first serious test of the season. On the road Sunday afternoon, they matched up against Drexel for their third consecutive season facing a CAA opponent.

It was a close game throughout, with the Dragons earning the largest lead of the night at nine points. After a lackluster defensive performance in the first half, ACU held Drexel to just 30 second half points. ACU held a five-point lead late in the second half, but turnovers and fouls down the stretch allowed the Dragons to tie the game late. The game stayed close in the overtime period, but a last-second three gave Drexel the 86-83 win at home.

Key Plays

Payten Ricks started the game with a three-point basket on the Wildcats first possession.
The Wildcats committed 13 first half fouls compared to just nine for the Dragons.
Two free throws from Coryon Mason and an offensive putback from Airion Simmons gave the Wildcats four-straight points down the stretch to cut the Dragons lead to five at the half.
Down five midway through the second half, Ricks hit back-to-back jumpers to tie the game for ACU.
The teams traded buckets in the overtime period, but it was Zach Walton for Drexel who hit a three with two seconds remaining, to seal the win for the Dragons.

Turning Point
After the Wildcats took a five-point lead with just over six minutes left in the game, ACU proceeded to commit six fouls and have three turnovers in a span of just over two minutes to put the momentum back in favor of the Dragons and allowed them to tie the game.

Stat Pack

Clay Gayman had another double-digit performance off of the bench. He scored 21 points going 8-9 from the field, and making his first eight shots.
Payten Ricks lit up the scoreboard with 29 points on the night, shooting 10-20 from the field. He also tallied five steals and two rebounds.
Reggie Miller led the team with five assists to go along with seven points and two rebounds.
The Dragons outrebounded the Wildcats 45-22.
The Wildcats totaled 12 steals to help run Drexel's turnover total to 24 for the game.
Drexel went 3-3 from the field in the overtime period.

Gold Mine
On giving up 47 points in the first half: "That's not us. We got back to ourselves in the second half, holding them to 30 points, but we struggled with foul trouble in the first half and just did not defend like we know we can."

On Gayman's standout performance: "I mentioned we were in foul trouble early, but we were in a bad spot at the '5'. Howell and Kohl both picked up two early fouls in about a three-minute span and Clay came in and gave us some great offense."

On his team's first true road test: "I thought, overall, we played well in our first true road test, but we had some miscues down the stretch in regulation. We had a couple bad fouls, a couple turnovers, and I didn't feel I put the guys in a good spot on the last possession. It will be a great learning game for us and we will have to take a look at the film and see how we can improve going forward."

Up Next
ACU will return home this coming weekend to host Pepperdine in the nightcap of a busy Wildcats athletics day. Saturday, Nov. 16, begins with volleyball hosting their senior day at 11 a.m., football will host SLU at 3 p.m., and men's basketball closing the night out at 7 p.m.