Daskalakis Athletic Center

Looking to get back into the win column last night at the Daskalakis Athletic Center, Drexel's basketball team was tied with George Mason with six minutes left. That was as close as the Dragons got. The visitors took control as Patriots forward Folarin Campbell made two big shots to help his team break the game open in a 75-65 victory. Drexel, which lost its sixth straight game, is 9-15 overall and 2-10 in the Colonial Athletic Association. With its seventh win in eight games, George Mason improved to 17-6 and 9-3, moving into a tie for second with William & Mary.

Kamile Nacickaite scored 26 points to lead Drexel past Bucknell, 67-54, in a women's basketball game at the Daskalakis Athletic Center yesterday. Gabriela Marginean added 24 in a win that improves the Dragons to 5-4. Joyce Novacek scored 17 points and Cosima Higham added 11 to lead Bucknell (2-8).

Who: La Salle (7-4) vs. Cornell (9-2) When: 4 o'clock Where: Tom Gola Arena TV/Radio: None/WHAT (1340-AM) Who: Drexel (6-6) vs. Rhode Island (9-1) When: 7 o'clock Where: Daskalakis Athletic Center TV/Radio: Comcast Network/ www.drexeldragons.com Who: Saint Joseph's (4-6) at Siena (7-4) When: 7 o'clock Where: Times Union Center, Albany, N.Y. TV/Radio: None/WNTP (990-AM)

Antonia Gale's 18 points weren't enough as Georgetown defeated La Salle, 71-40, in women's basketball action at the Tom Gola Arena yesterday. Gale was the only player to reach double figures for the Explorers (1-6). She shot 3-for-5 from the field and 11-for-12 from the line. Sugar Rodgers led Georgetown (6-2) with 17 points and Rubylee Wright added 15. La Salle also announced sophomore forward Jenna Gilbert's intent to transfer at the end of the semester. In five games this season, Gilbert scored 17 points and pulled down 12 rebounds in 14 minutes.

Drexel will host Kent State in an ESPN BracketBusters game on Friday, Feb. 18, at 9 p.m. in the Daskalakis Athletic Center. ESPNU will televise the game. After winning at Hofstra on Saturday, the Dragons are 14-7 this season, 6-5 in the Colonial Athletic Association. Dartaye Ruffin scored 15 points and had 14 rebounds in the win. The freshman was named the CAA Rookie of the Week for the fourth time this season. Kent State (14-7, 5-2 Mid-American Conference) has won five of its last six games; it has a victory this season over South Florida, and its losses include a three-point decision to Florida.

It was a festive occasion yesterday for the Drexel University community as well as University City. Drexel president Constantine Papadakis and Gen. Jessica L. Wright of the Pennsylvania National Guard signed a 50-year lease that gave the school the go-ahead to turn the Philadelphia Armory into a basketball arena and convocation center. The event was held at the armory, which is on 33d street, across the street and one block up from the 2,300-seat Daskalakis Athletic Center, where the Dragons' men's and women's teams now play.

Ryan Wittman scored 18 points and Jeff Foote added 15 yesterday as Cornell registered a 61-54 victory over Drexel at the Daskalakis Athletic Center. Wittman, the son of former NBA player Randy Wittman, went 2 for 4 from three-point range for the Big Red (5-2), who finished 6 for 14 from beyond the arc in the Legends Classic. Cornell, which won its third straight game, also hit 9 of 11 free throws, which helped overcome 40.4 percent shooting from the field (23 for 57). Drexel (3-4)

Solomon Alibi equaled a career high with 22 points to lead Florida State to a 76-72 victory over Auburn last night in Tallahassee, Fla. Alibi scored all but two of his points in the second half but got little help as the Seminoles (9-2) blew a 12-point lead. Alibi, in one stretch, scored nine straight points, including a pair of free throws that broke the last of two second- half ties at 63-63. Frankie Sullivan and DeWayne Reed scored 17 points each for Auburn (5-5). Elsewhere: Marquis Hall scored 17 points, propelling Lehigh to a 66-58 victory over Dartmouth in Bethlehem, Pa. . . . Jake Cohen scored a career high of 23 points, and Steve Rossiter had 12 points and 11 rebounds to lead Davidson in a 90-49 rout of the College of New Jersey in Davidson, N.C. Women Princeton 66, Drexel 49 - Niveen Rasheed scored 27 points to send Princeton (8-2)

Drexel will face a longtime rival Friday in Richmond, Va., when the eighth-seeded Dragons (15-15, 8-10) take on ninth-seeded Delaware at noon in the first round of the Colonial Athletic Association men's basketball tournament. Drexel split its games against Delaware (8-20, 4-14) this season, winning by 55-44 at the Daskalakis Athletic Center on Jan. 21, and losing by 75-68 in Newark on Feb. 11. "It's going to be a tough game. Delaware's always a tough game," Drexel coach Bruiser Flint said.

Gabriela Marginean's 23 points and four free throws in the game's final 30 seconds led Drexel to a 68-67 upset of No. 25 James Madison in a women's basketball game yesterday at the Daskalakis Athletic Center. It was the Colonial Athletic Conference opener for both teams. Jasmina Rosseel and Taylor Wootton added 11 points apiece for the Dragons, who led 37-34 at the half and improved to 7-5 (1-0 CAA). Dawn Evans (30 points) and Jalissa Taylor (14 rebounds) led JMU (10-2, 0-1). It was Drexel's first-ever win over a Top 25 opponent.

Drexel extended its basketball season Sunday, but not before fighting off a team that earned plenty of respect in an impressive two-game stay in Philadelphia. Leading by as many as 18 points in the first half, Drexel held off a late charge to defeat the University of Northern Iowa, 65-63, in a second-round NIT game at the Daskalakis Athletic Center. The outcome wasn't decided until a forced double-pump three-point shot by Northern Iowa's Johnny Moran bounced off the back of the rim as time expired.

NIT second round: No. 7 seeded Northern Iowa (20-13) at No. 3 Drexel (28-6)   Sunday, 11 a.m., Daskalakis Athletic Center Television: ESPN Points per game/opponents points per game: Northern Iowa, 65.6/61.8; Drexel, 65.1/55.4 Probable lineups Northern Iowa G Deon Mitchell 6-1 Fr., 7.1 ppg., 2.2 rpg. G Johnny Moran 6-1 Sr., 7.1 ppg., 3.0 rpg. G Marc Sonnen 6-3 Jr.,...

Drexel guard Chris Fouch had vowed that he and his teammates would be able to put the disappointment of being excluded from the NCAA Tournament behind them. Then Fouch backed up his pledge with an impressive display of marksmanship as Drexel defeated visiting University of Central Florida, 81-56, in Wednesday's first-round NIT game at the Daskalakis Athletic Center. Seeded third in Region 3, Drexel (28-6) will host No. 7 seeded Northern Iowa, a winner over St. Joseph's, at a date to be determined.

Bruiser Flint told his guys ahead of time not to get too excited. The players are young, and they haven't been through this as many times as the coach. They look at their 27-6 overall record, and a 19-game winning streak along the way, and a 25-2 record since Dec. 3, and they think there is no way the NCAA tournament committee can keep them out. Maybe the Colonial Athletic Association isn't the Big East, and maybe Drexel isn't Syracuse, but all those wins and all that work couldn't really be put aside because of one bad half against Virginia Commonwealth.

The memory and the heartbreak are indelible, even five years later. It was the end of the 2006-07 season and Drexel had finished with a 23-7 record, including some very credible wins, and the team assembled to watch the proceedings on NCAA Selection Sunday. Their hope burst that evening along with the bubble on which the Dragons had been placed. That happens regularly to mid-major teams that don't win their conference tournament and must rely instead on the flinty hearts of a committee that often has decimal points where its pupils should be. Drexel coach Bruiser Flint calls it "the eye test," as in, "Look at my team and tell me what you see. " If you look at the Drexel teams under Flint, you see great defensive teams and, for the most part, teams that would hold their own in the postseason regardless of what the strength-of-schedule and RPI mavens might think.

With 18 points, eight rebounds, four assists, and about 45 family members and friends watching his every move Wednesday night, Samme Givens closed his Drexel career at the Daskalakis Athletic Center the very best way he could - with a rare career milestone and a victory. Givens became the third player in Drexel history to score 1,000 points and pull down 1,000 rebounds in his career in leading the Dragons to their 16th straight victory, a 78-61 win over James Madison. The win, combined with George Mason's loss at Northeastern, gave the Dragons (24-5 overall, 15-2 conference)

Playing its final home game of the regular season Wednesday night, Drexel wanted to make sure it maintained its long winning streak and remain unbeaten at the Daskalakis Athletic Center. The Dragons didn't disappoint. With Samme Givens scoring 18 points and establishing a career milestone for rebounds, Drexel extended its winning streak to 16 with a 78-61 victory over James Madison in a Colonial Athletic Association game. The Dragons (24-5 overall, 15-2 CAA) close their regular season Saturday at Old Dominion as they continue their march to what they hope will be an NCAA bid no matter how they fare in the conference tournament next month.

With so many quality options on offense, Chris Fouch has played a supporting role for Drexel this season. After leading the Dragons in scoring last season, Fouch entered Saturday's game against Hofstra ranked fourth on the team. But the junior sharpshooter still can light it up when needed as he did against the Pride when Fouch paced the white-hot Dragons with 25 points in a 78-67 victory over Hofstra at the Daskalakis Athletic Center. It was the 13th straight win and 19th in 20 games for Drexel (21-5, 13-2 Colonial Athletic Association)

With so many quality options on offense, Chris Fouch has played a supporting role for Drexel this season. After leading the Dragons in scoring last season, Fouch entered Saturday's game against Hofstra ranked fourth on the team. But the junior sharpshooter still can light it up when needed as he did against the Pride when Fouch paced the white-hot Dragons with 25 points in a 78-67 victory over Hofstra at the Daskalakis Athletic Center. It was the 13th straight win and 19th in 20 games for Drexel (21-5, 13-2 Colonial Athletic Association)

Drexel coach Bruiser Flint is a habitual needler, world-class. His players, writers, anybody else who walks by. He'll get on you and punctuate his point with a laugh. He should charge for the service. "Ask him about his turnovers," Flint said when a writer grabbed Dragons point guard Frantz Massenat after Wednesday's Georgia State game, Drexel's eighth straight trip to the win column. That's the way Flint usually talks about his team, getting straight to the deficiencies.