On Monday, March 5 in the Richmond Coliseum, the Drexel men's basketball team will face VCU in the finals of the Colonial Athletic Association Championship game. The Dragons enter the game with a 19-game winning streak and a school-record tying 27 wins. The Rams also have 27 wins. The winner of the game gets the CAA's automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament.
An official campus watch party will be held tonight, March 5, at the Daskalakis Athletic Center for Drexel students, faculty, staff and alumni. The game will be televised live on ESPN at 7 p.m. Doors open at 6 p.m. A 25-foot screen will be set up on Sam Cozen Court for the crowd as well as free food and beverages for all who attend.
The Dragons (27-5) will be looking to return to the NCAA for the first time since the 1995-96 season, when a Malik Rose-led team advanced to and won the NAC title game. Drexel went on to defeat Memphis in the first round of the NCAA Tournament before falling to Syracuse. Monday night's game will be the second CAA title game for Drexel, who also advanced to Monday night in 2003 before losing to UNCW in the title game.
The Dragons led for the entire game on Saturday as they defeated the Monarchs for the second time in eight days. Frantz Massenat led the way with 20 points. Chris Fouch added 16, nine of which came in the first half, while Damion Lee added 17 and was 3-for-4 from deep. Drexel held ODU to just 33 percent shooting and did a nice job of guarding Kent Bazemore. The All-CAA pick was held to just 12 points after torching Drexel for 37 last week. With the victory the Dragons now have a 25-1 record over the last three months, with their only loss coming on Jan. 2. Only Kentucky has a longer winning streak than the Dragons.
VCU (27-6) advanced to the title game after defeating George Mason, 74-64 in a game that wasn't as close as the score would indicate. The Rams raced out to a 22-0 lead and held a 28-point lead in the first half before the Patriots made a late run and cut the lead to six points late. VCU, which is making its eighth CAA title game appearance overall, has won 16 of its last 17 contests entering the championship game. Bradford Burgess, who set the national mark for consecutive starts, finished with a game-high 20 points on 5-of-10 from 3-point range to lead four Rams in double figures. Burgess started his 143rd straight game on Sunday afternoon, passing Georgetown's Patrick Ewing for the national record.
--Drexel Athletics Communications