Drexel

Drexel basketball coach Bruiser Flint has received an oral commitment from Damion Lee, a 6-foot-5 swingman who is currently attending St. Thomas Moore Prep in Connecticut. For a team that went 30-7 this season, the versatile Lee averaged 17 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, and 3 steals. Under NCAA rules, Flint cannot comment on Lee until the player makes his choice official by signing a letter of intent. The signing period begins April 13. Already in the Drexel fold are 6-6 forwards Kazembe Abif (Elizabeth, N.J.)

BOSTON - Freshman Damion Lee scored a career-high 25 points as Drexel outlasted Northeastern, 61-53, in a CAA game last night. Frantz Massenat contributed 12 points as the Dragons (18-5, 10-2) won their 10th consecutive game. Jonathan Lee paced the Huskies (11-11, 7-5) with 15 points. Drexel bolted to an early 10-3 lead as Lee scored seven points including six on a pair of treys. Northeastern gradually chipped away at that deficit until it pulled to within 25-24 at the half due in large part to the play of freshman Quincy Ford.

Mike DeRocckis scored 21 points in leading Drexel to a 75-55 victory over James Madison in the opening game of the Holiday Stores Classic last night in Bozeman, Mont. Drexel will meet Montana State in the championship tonight, while Butler will meet James Madison in the consolation game. Montana State (7-2) got 18 points and 11 rebounds from Quadre Lollis in an 84-59 victory over Butler in the other semifinal. Drexel (5-2) pulled away from the Dukes in the final eight minutes of the first half with a 25-10 scoring blitz.

To clinch first place in the North Atlantic Conference, Drexel had to defeat a team that had reeled off six straight wins. Plus, the Dragons would have to do it on the road. "These kids deserve a lot of credit," gushed Drexel coach Bill Herrion. "They played their hearts and souls out. They've been in big games before and this was a big game. " Yes, the Dragons did clinch the top spot in the NAC, coming back from a seven-point halftime deficit to defeat a tough New Hampshire squad, 83-74, at Durham, N.H. Malik Rose scored eight consecutive points in the second half to fuel Drexel's second-half comeback.

Sean Brooks, a 6-foot-6, 230-pound forward from Central High in Seat Pleasant, Md., has verbally committed to play basketball at Drexel next season. Brooks was one of the top players in the Washington area last winter, when he averaged 19 points and 16 rebounds per game. Brooks, who was named first-team all-Prince Georges County, and third-team all-metropolitan as a junior, joins 6-8 forward Pat Deveney of Cherokee High in Evesham, and 6-0 guard Brett Storm of Penn Charter in the 2000 recruiting class of first-year Dragons coach Steve Seymour.

College basketball coaches recruit talent. Successful coaches also recruit winners. With the addition of Chester High's 6-9 Kenny Tribbett, Drexel coach Bruiser Flint believes he has three recruits who know what it takes to win. Referring to Tribbett, Central High's Scott Rodgers and Tramayne Hawthorne of Steelton-Highspire (Pa.) High, Flint said yesterday, "They understand about being on a winning team. " Tribbett, a key player on Chester's PIAA Class AAAA state championship team, announced his commitment to Drexel yesterday.

Hollie Mershon shot 10-for-16 from the floor and scored 27 points to lead visiting Drexel (7-7,3-1) to a 60-43 women's CAA victory over James Madison last night. Lauren Whitehurst had 14 points for JMU (11-4, 2-2). In another game: * Elena Delle Donne scored 23 points to lead 20th-ranked Delaware (13-1, 4-0 CAA) to a 69-37 thumping of visiting UNC Wilmington (8-7, 1-3).

As a reward for defeating Maine, 97-79, in a semifinal of the North Atlantic Conference tournament last night, Drexel earned a rematch with Delaware, which owns the country's second-longest winning streak at 19 games. Delaware (26-3) has beaten Drexel twice this season and will host tomorrow night's game, to be shown live on ESPN. The Blue Hens are beatable but the task will not be easy, said coach Bill Herrion, whose Dragons (16-13) have won eight of their last nine games.

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.