Drexel coach Zach Spiker looks out to the play on the court in a CAA tourney game against Stony Brook last season. (Photo: Aaron Bracy)
By AARON BRACY
March 10, 2024
Big5Hoops.com
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Drexel coach Zach Spiker took probably one of the slowest walks of his life on Sunday night.
Spiker had just endured a heart-crushing defeat in the Coastal Athletic Association tournament. The Dragons’ dreams of winning the CAA title and thus earning the league’s automatic bid and making the NCAA tournament ended.
Spiker’s star player, Amari Williams, got injured at just the absolute worst possible time, with the Dragons ahead and in control early in the second half. Stony Brook’s Aaron Clarke converted a three-point play in the waning seconds, and Drexel was unable to answer with a tying 3-pointer.
Final score: Stony Brook 91, Drexel 88, 2OT.
Spiker grabbed some papers on the scorer’s table, took a sip of water and ambled ever-so-slowly toward the locker room. Clearly, he didn’t want to leave. Didn’t want the Dragons’ CAA tournament to end. Didn’t want to have to say goodbye to one of Drexel’s better teams ever.
There’s heartbreak. And then there’s the heartbreak of March when any loss could be time for the equipment manager to collect the uniforms.
The finality of it all is just gut-wrenching, for players, for coaches, for staff members, for fans. It just hurts.
“Tournaments are crazy; they’re wild,” Spiker said. “We’re on the painful side of it, but it’s also the beauty. It’s just been an honor to coach them.”
Spiker’s eyes, already glassy and red, reddened some more when Luke House talked about how much he loved this team, Spiker and the coaching staff.
“I can’t imagine a better team, a better head coach,” said House, who led Drexel with a career-high 28 points and hit 7 of 11 3-pointers. “I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.”
House’s offensive explosion put Drexel in excellent position to advance in one of the toughest mid-major conferences in the country. He hit a 3-pointer early in the second half, then followed Lucas Monroe’s layup with another jumper that put Drexel ahead 43-36 with 17:37 left in the second half. As they were all game, the Dragons were in control.
Keenan Fitzmorris then converted a dunk to pull Stony Brook within 43-38 with 17:04 to play.
No biggie. Drexel is up five now. The Dragons still look good, still look in control. But wait. Wait just a second. Williams is down on the floor! The CAA’s reigning three-time Defensive Player of the Year was in pain, apparently after turning his left ankle. He got up but couldn’t put weight on it and headed to the locker room.
Garfield Turner entered and played strong backup minutes, helping Drexel stay in control. Sitting courtside, I was thinking about the talent and depth the Dragons have in order to overcome losing their star player. Justin Moore’s steal and dunk put the Dragons ahead 62-50 with 7:34 remaining, and you were thinking about the next game against either Hofstra or Delaware in the semifinals on Monday night.
But Chris Maidoh, a graduate student transfer from Fairfield, decided he didn’t want to turn in his uniform. And without Williams as an inside presence, things were easier than they would have been – should have been – for Stony Brook’s big man. He closed the second half with the final six Seawolves points, including a pair of rim-rocking dunks that sent the game to overtime.
Williams had come back in with 6:18 left in the second half but wasn’t himself when on the court. Spiker didn’t play him at all in the first overtime and then only sparingly in the second.
The dagger for Drexel came when Clarke, who has modeled his game after his favorite player, Knicks guard and former Villanova standout Jalen Brunson, converted a three-point play in the waning seconds of the second OT. Drexel needed a 3 to send it into a third overtime but came up empty on two tries.
Spiker saw it all, sadly. He just didn’t want to leave the court after watching it. With each slow step, maybe it would all just rewind, like the countless hours of game tape the coach watches, and he could get back on the sidelines with a healthy Williams, trying to design another play.
Just another play. One more. Another minute. One more. Another chance to win. One more.
Something. Anything. Just don’t make me walk off of this court. Please.
“There’s a lot of pain,” Spiker said. “I hurt for them. They were a joy to coach this year. I thought we had a team that could’ve been here Tuesday night. Yeah, it sucks.”
The Dragons did have a team that could’ve played in the CAA final. Did have a team that could’ve been one of those first-round NCAA bracket busters. Did have a team worthy of another day, or two, of basketball here in the nation’s capital.
They also had a team that doesn’t want to call it a season.
“I love those guys in there, and I know they love me,” House said.
The love was evident afterward, in their (cracking) voices and (reddened) eyes.
Losing is hard. Losing in March is even harder.
You just know that a March loss, so sudden and so final, like Drexel’s against Stony Brook, might be the end of the season.
Spiker knew that all too well. His slow, sad walk back to the locker room said everything: He just didn’t want it to end.
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Aaron Bracy has been covering Philadelphia sports since 1996. His byline regularly appears on Associated Press stories. Big5Hoops.com is his second website dedicated to Philadelphia college basketball. Follow Bracy on X: @Aaron_Bracy and like his Facebook and Instagram pages.