Drexel Earns a 65 – 60 Win Over Campbell on Senior Night
PHILADELPHIA, PA. 2/26/2026 –
Senior Night is always an emotional game, and is the final home game of the season for the Drexel Dragons. Drexel came into the game a half game behind Stony Brook for fourth place in the Coastal Athletic Association. They also were a half-game ahead of Monmouth for fifth-place. Stony Brook and Monmouth play each other so there could be movement in the standings. More on that at the end. The Dragons met the Camels of Campbell on this interesting night in the conference. And it is the last home game for the Dragons this season.
In a close game throughout Drexel earns the win by getting a mini-run at the end of the game keyed by guard Shane Blakeney who scored a game-high tying 22 points in the 65 – 60 important victory, He hit his last five baskets of the game. The run was fueled by one thing.
“February March urgency is flowing through our team right now,” said Blakeney. “I think we’ve been fortunate enough to go through tough times this season to realize how fragile these games are and how much we have to value each possession. Down the stretch we took our focus up a level. We played as a team when it got real hard and they started scoring a little bit.”
Tight Game Opened Towards Drexel
The contest was even at halftime, and it stayed close. The Dragons held the advantage until the Camels tied the game at 44 apiece. From there the lead would be on a one possession see-saw until the 3:28 mark when Blakeney scored on a dunk for a 53- 52 lead. He followed that with a basket at 2:37 giving the Dragons a 55 – 52 lead. Garfield Turner drained a three-pointer a minute later for a 57 – 54 edge. Campbell tied it on a basket from beyond the arc by DJ Smith with 1:08 on the clock. Blakeney had the answer with a short jumper with 37 seconds showing on the clock. The Dragons ended the game making 5 of 6 free throws, 4 by Eli Beard.
And a critical February March win was in the books for the home team.
“Tonight’s win was big,” said Drexel Coach Zach Spiker. “We still got another game. We still got work to do. We’ll look forward to that opportunity. The urgency has been here for quite some time.”
What the Numbers Say
Drexel turned the ball over 11 times, but only 3 happened in the second half.
Victor Panov scored 13 points and had a team-high 4 assists. Turner scored 12 points. Eli Beard had four points, all late from the foul line.
Dovydas Butka also scored 22 points and pulled down a game-best 11 rebounds for Campbell. Jeremiah Johnson added 15 points while Smith contributed 10 points.
Senior Night
Prior to the game Drexel honored four seniors; Shane Blakeney, Garfield Turner, Victor Panov, and Eli Beard. All four played a significant role in the win. The emotion of Senior Night was not lost on the players.
“Four years here, Coach Spiker made an impact and helped us do a lot of stuff on and off the court,” said Turner. “So playing your last game at the DAC is definitely an emotional night.”
“I think it was big,” Blakeney said. “I think we did a good job of letting it fuel us and not hold us back. Keeping that even keel mindset is something that GT (Garfield Turner) and I have been preaching.”
Up Next
Drexel (16 -14, 10 – 7) has one more regular season game remaining, a road game at Hofstra. The Dragons are riding a three-game win streak. After that it is the CAA Tournament.
And about that other game? Monmouth downed Stony Brook 82 – 69 in New Jersey. Drexel moves into fourth place a half-game behind the upcoming opponent, Hofstra, and a half-game ahead of Monmouth and Stony Brook. The top four teams go right to the quarterfinal round. The third and fourth seed could come down to tiebreakers. Stay tuned.
Written By: Glenn Papazian
Contact: Glenn@PhillyCollegeSports.com
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