Drexel

Phil Goss and Robert Battle each scored 20 points as Drexel rallied for an 84-74 victory over Hofstra last night in a Colonial Athletic Association game at Hofstra Arena. Hofstra held a 23-10 lead midway through the first half, but the Dragons (9-9 overall, 6-3 CAA) responded with a 20-4 run to take a 30-27 lead with four minutes remaining. Goss hit a trio of three-point shots in that span and Drexel never trailed again. Drexel scored the first six points of the second half to take a 41-34 lead, and the Pride never got closer than 52-48 on two free throws by Kenny Adeleke.

The Drexel women's varsity eight crew, fresh off a school-best third-place finish in the Dad Vail, is one of two American teams entered in this week's Henley Women's Regatta. It marks the first time that Drexel women will compete for the Jeffries Cup at the historic event. The Dragons, coming off one of their most successful seasons ever, arrived in England on Saturday to train on the Thames River in preparation for the single-elimination competition. Drexel's first race, set for tomorrow, is against the Neptune racing team from Dublin, Ireland.

Marist outrowed Drexel yesterday in the varsity eight-oared race of their regatta on the Schuylkill. Marist led all the way and finished 3 3/4 lengths ahead of Drexel, covering the 2,000 meters in 6 minutes, 23.6 seconds. Drexel was timed in 6:38.6. The Drexel women's varsity eight rallied after trailing halfway through the course and surged to the finish line two lengths ahead of Marist. Drexel was timed in 7:17.4 and Marist in 7:25.1. Connecticut College outrowed crews from Villanova and the University of Rochester in the varsity eight race of the Villanova Regatta yesterday on the Schuylkill.

Drexel loses to Army one night and defeats Rutgers the next. Go figure. The Dragons, led by Brian Holden's 23 points, placed four players in double figures to defeat host Rutgers, 76-64, in a non-conference game last night. It was the Dragons' first victory over the Scarlet Knights in 13 meetings. On Monday, the Dragons were upset at Army, 70-67, in a game in which Holden shot just 3-for-15 and the team shot 24-for-74. Last night, the 6-4 junior guard was 6-for-12, including two three- pointers, and 12-for-13 from the foul line.

Drexel raced to an 18-4 lead last night, then wound up hanging on to defeat Old Dominion, 62-57, in a Colonial Athletic Association game. Senior guard Eric Schmieder scored a game-high 18 points to lead the Dragons (15-9 overall, 10-5 CAA) and sophomore Phil Goss added 14 points. The Dragons shot 9 for 20 from behind the three-point arc. Schmieder sealed the win by scoring the game's final four points. With Drexel ahead, 58-57, with a little more than a minute remaining, he made a basket and sank two free throws to nail it down.

Monsignor Bonner's Ashley Howard and Haverford School's Henry "Doug" Fairfax have traded baskets and assists for a number of years as AAU teammates. Now that Howard has made a oral commitment to Drexel, the two will get to do it on the college level, too. "Doug recruited me more than [Drexel] coach [Steve] Seymour," said Howard, who expects to sign on for a full scholarship later this week. "He'd call me. He'd tell me all the good things about Drexel. " Fairfax, a 6-foot-3 swingman and first-team all-Main Line/Delaware County area pick by The Inquirer, committed to Drexel before the 1998-99 high school season.

Germantown Academy graduate Julius Williams, a junior who was expected to provide some depth for the Drexel basketball team, has decided not to play this season. Williams was unavailable for comment yesterday. A 6-foot-4 swingman, Williams appeared in 16 games last season after starting eight of the 19 games he played in as a freshman. He averaged 3.1 points and 12.8 minutes a game last season as Drexel went 20-9 and shared the America East regular-season title with Delaware.

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.,...

On a night when Drexel didn't get much offense from reliables Phil Goss and Sean Brooks, sixth man Kenell Sanchez came through - big time. Sanchez, a 6-5 junior, led all scorers with a season-high 17 points and swept eight rebounds as Drexel defeated Towson, 66-60, at the Towson Center last night in the final Colonial Athletic Association regular-season game. The game was a tuneup for Drexel for the CAA Tournament in Richmond, Va., which begins this weekend. Fourth-seeded Drexel (17-10, 12-6 CAA)

You could see it coming. Last month, Drexel barely got by visiting Vermont thanks to the long-range shooting of Mike DeRocckis. Yesterday, Vermont got revenge as freshman Tony Orciari scored nine of his team's last 11 points to give the Catamounts a 70-67 win over Drexel. The victory, Vermont's second straight at home, broke two school records for the 16-9 Catamounts. The win gave Vermont 15 Division I wins, a new school single-season record, and gave the Cats an 11-6 mark in the America East Conference, the first time Vermont has won more than 10 conference games.