Tavon Allen scored 15 second-half points in his collegiate debut as Drexel held on to beat Penn in the Palestra, 61-59. With the victory, Drexel Head Coach Bruiser Flint won his 200th game at the school. It was also the fifth straight time the Dragons defeated the Quakers four of those coming at the Palestra.The Quakers (1-3) went on a 9-0 run early in the second half to take a 40-32 lead. Miles Cartwright scored six of his 18 points during the run. Drexel answered with a run of its own midway through the period. The Dragons scored 11 straight points to take the lead for good at 53-49 with 6:31 to play. Allen scored nine points during the run as Drexel's defense held the Quakers scoreless for a stretch of more than five minutes. The Dragons held what seemed a comfortable seven point lead with 57 seconds to play after a pair of Derrick Thomas' free throws, but the Quakers would not go away. Jamal Lewis scored on a lay-up and the Dragons committed a five-second violation, which Penn capitalized on when Cartwright was fouled and made a pair of free throws to cut the lead to three. Drexel again turned the ball over and again Penn scored to trim the lead to just one point with :24 to play. Penn fouled Frantz Massenat, who made one of two from the line as Drexel's lead stood at 61-59. The Quakers had what appeared to be the last possession, but as Cartwright drove the lane, Thomas came up with a steal, forcing Penn to foul Massenat with just 0.6 left in the game. Massenat missed a free throw intentionally as the clock ran out and Drexel picked up its first win of the year.Dartaye Ruffin led Drexel with 15 points. The junior was 7-for-12 from the floor and scored 12 of his points in the first half. Allen was 5-for-9 from the field and hit a pair of three-pointers. The redshirt freshman, who was pressed into action when Damion Lee was forced to miss the game due to injury, also had four steals. Chris Fouch had 10 points and four assists in 22 minutes before being injured with 14 minutes left in the game. He did not return. The Quakers were led by Fran Dougherty's 21 points and 10 rebounds. Both teams were sloppy at times as they combined for 35 turnovers in the game, 18 by the Quakers. Drexel outrebounded Penn, 36-28, as Daryl McCoy grabbed a season-high 14 caroms.The Dragons are off until Thanksgiving Day. They travel to California on Tuesday night in preparation for the DirecTV Classic in Anaheim. Drexel begins the three-game, four-day tournament against St. Mary's. The game can be seen live at 4:30 Eastern Time on ESPN2.
