Echenique Powers Rutgers to 58-56 Win Over Drexel
Nov 20 | Men's Basketball
PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Gregory Echenique (Guatire, Venezuela) received the ball at the left elbow with 1.9 seconds remaining on a side-out-of-bounds play, drove the lane and deposited it in the hoop with his left hand as time expired to lift Rutgers (2-0) to a 58-56 victory over Drexel (0-3) Friday evening at the RAC. The thrilling finish capped a monster evening for the sophomore center, who scored 16 points on seven-of-11 shooting, grabbed 14 rebounds and issued two blocks in 27 minutes of action.
“I think Gregory can do that against anybody,” said head coach Fred Hill. “He just needs to decide to do that every night. I am really proud of the way he responded tonight. He has the rare combination of great forward quickness in the post and size and strength. I hope he understands how much confidence we have in him by going to him at the end of the game (with 1.9) to go.”
The performance marked the seventh career double-double for Echenique and the first time he accomplished the feat in back-to-back games. He had 13 points and 10 rebounds in the season-opener versus Marist.
Sophomore guard Mike Rosario (Jersey City, N.J.) and junior point Mike Coburn (Mount Vernon, N.Y.) also registered double digits for the Scarlet Knights. Rosario scored 13 points, while Coburn added 11. Defensively, Hamady Ndiaye (Dakar, Senegal) once again made his presence felt, as the senior center issued six blocked shots in 13 minutes of action.
The contest featured four lead changes and five ties. Rutgers largest advantage of the opening half was seven points (21-14) with 6:08 remaining before the break. The Scarlet Knights entered the locker room at the midpoint with slim, 29-28, edge.
After intermission, Drexel took a pair of one-point advantages before the initial media timeout. The home squad responded, however, recapturing the lead and increasing its advantage to seven points (45-38) once again. Rutgers managed to maintain its lead until a Drexel layup with just 0:12 seconds on the clock tied the score at 56-56 and set up the memorable finale.
The Rutgers defense limited Drexel to just 26.6 percent (17-64) shooting, including a paltry 16.7 percent (3-18) from behind the arc. The Scarlet Knights made 45.5 percent (20-44) of their field goal attempts and 28.6 percent (2-7) from long range.
Rutgers returns to the hardwood this Sunday (Nov. 22) for a 4:00 p.m. tip-off versus Vermont at the RAC.
POSTGAME NOTES
- The win marks the third straight year Rutgers has opened the season 2-0.
- Gregory Echenique’s game winning, left-handed layup marks the first time the Scarlet Knights have won by a buzzer beater since March 9, 2008, when former Scarlet Knight JR Inman hit a running three-pointer at the buzzer to lift Rutgers to a 64-61 win over rival Seton Hall at the Prudential Center.
- Echenique‘s 16 points and 14 rebounds marks the seventh double-double of his career and the first time the six-foot-nine center has accomplished the feat in back-to-back games. His 16 points marks the 16th time in his 34 games as a Scarlet Knight that he has scored in double digits. The Guatire, Venezuela native has grabbed 10-plus rebounds in 11 career games.
- RU is now 58-23 all-time against current members of the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA).
- For the second straight game, three Scarlet Knights scored in double digits with Echenique (16), Rosario (13) and Coburn (11) posting double digits versus the Dragons.
- Echenique led the team in points for the fifth time in his career and in rebounds for the 24th time as a Scarlet Knight.
- Echenique’s two blocks gives him 83 for his career and places him tied for 13th on the school’s career block’s list with former Scarlet Knight Anthony Duckett (1985-90).
- Rosario’s 13 points marks the 30th time in his 34 games at Rutgers that he has scored in double digits. He has notched at least 12 points in six straight non-conference games.
- Coburn’s 11 points marks his 13th career double-digit scoring performance. He scored his first basket of the season with a floater in the lane at the 13:32 mark in the first half.
- Senior Hamady Ndiaye swatted six blocks for the second straight game. The seven-foot center now owns 10 career games with six-plus blocks and 35 games with at least three. His defensive performance maintains his No. 4 spot on the NCAA’s career blocks lost among active players with 225.
- Muhamed Hasani scored his first point as a Scarlet Knight on a free throw at the 2:51 mark in the first half.
POSTGAME QUOTES
Rutgers Head Coach Fred Hill
On the Scarlet Knights’ execution of the final play:
“That’s exactly how it was supposed to go. Believe me, you draw them up all the time as a coach and they rarely go exactly as they’re supposed to go but that’s a play we practice for end-game situations and it worked to perfection.”
On the Scarlet Knights free throw shooting:
“As a team last year we shot 74 percent…You go in our locker room and look at our board and you see we’ve shot over 2,000 free throws as a team in practice this year. We chart them every day. As a team, we shoot 81 percent (in practice). We run when we don’t shoot 80 percent after drills.”
“Everything about this game is contagious, and when you start missing them it’s contagious. When you make them it’s contagious too. There is going to be a night where we shoot 85 percent from the line. It’s contagious. Tonight, we were on the bad side of contagious.”
On the team’s overall performance:
“We executed and we got a great win. I’ll tell you what I’m most proud of besides the last play is our defense. We didn’t defend in the first game and I think we took a major step forward tonight.”
On the performance of sophomore center Gregory Echenique:
“I think Gregory can do that against anybody. He just needs to decide to do that every night. I am really proud of the way he responded tonight. He has the rare combination of great forward and quickness in the post and size and strength. I hope he understands how much confidence we have in him by going to him at the end of the game (with 1.9) to go.”
Rutgers center Gregory Echenique
On his last-second driving lay-up that propelled the Scarlet Knights to a 58-56 win:
“Actually, I was supposed to get it a little bit closer to the basket. The guy that was guarding me was big and strong and he kind of pushed me further away. It just happened. I’m not going to lie to you and say I knew what I was going to do. I had a play in my mind, but it didn’t go that way, so I just tried to go with my left hand, which was working today. The guy that was guarding me was a little slower than I was and I used that to my advantage.”
Drexel head coach James “Bruiser” Flint
Game thoughts:
“We had guys fouled out, we shot 26% from the field and we lost the game with 1.9 seconds left. I mean, what do you say?”
“I told our guys it’s just the trials and tribulations of the road. We’ve got to finish, we haven’t played badly all year, but we’ve had tough endings. You have tough endings when you don’t finish. If you’re going to win tough road games you need to finish at the end by making layups when they come to you, making foul shots when they come to you, and you have to make open shots when they come to you.”
On the play of Gregory Echenique (#00) and the last play of the game:
“We knew what they wanted to do because we weren’t able to guard the kid all night. Our main priority was to not let him catch the ball deep on the block. Yannick Formbor was able to push him up the lane to catch the ball, but our kid thought that once he caught it time would expire so he never moved his feet and allowed Gregory to get the layup.”
