James Madison

When: Saturday at 1:30 p.m., Bridgeforth Stadium, Harrisonburg, Va. Radio: ESPN-AM (950) Records: Villanova, 1-5, 0-3 Colonial Athletic Association; James Madison, 4-2, 2-1, ranked 13th in FCS. Coaches: Villanova, Andy Talley (27th season, 189-112-1); James Madison, Mickey Matthews (13th season, 92-58). Series: James Madison leads, 10-9. Villanova took a 14-7 victory over visiting James Madison last year after blanking the Dukes, 27-0, on its home field in 2009.

Radio: ESPN-AM (950). Records: James Madison 4-2 overall, 1-2 Colonial Athletic Association; Villanova, 4-2, 2-1. Coaches: James Madison, Mickey Matthews (13th season, 86-53). Villanova, Andy Talley (26th season, 183-104-1). Series: James Madison leads, 10-8. James Madison outlook: The Dukes are ranked No. 11 in the Football Championship Subdivision. They dropped a 28-14 outcome to visiting New Hampshire last week on homecoming day at JMU. The Dukes are scoring just 20 points a game, but they are giving up only 13.3.

Gabriela Marginean led a second-half Drexel rally, but the Dragons were still on the losing end of a 53-46 final against host James Madison in a Colonial Athletic Association women's basketball game last night. Marginean led the Dragons (8-3 CAA, 14-8 overall) with 14 points and 10 rebounds, and Tyler Hale added 12 points as Drexel closed an 18-point lead to only two with 8 minutes left. However, JMU's Dawn Evans (31 points) led the Dukes (8-3, 18-4) on a 23-8 run to close the contest.

Drexel appeared to be on its way to an easy win Wednesday night at the Daskalakis Athletic Center. It just didn't turn out that way. The Dragons had their way during the first 10 minutes of the game. But the rest of the Colonial Athletic Association contest belonged to James Madison, which prevailed, 68-54. Drexel had its three-game winning streak snapped and fell to 16-8 overall and 8-6 in the CAA. James Madison broke a two-game losing streak and is 18-8 and 8-6. The Dukes are coached by Matt Brady, a native of Haddon Heights who was an assistant at St. Joseph's under Phil Martelli for 11 years.

Junior midfielder Julie Weiss has scored six goals and added an assist for the nationally ranked James Madison field hockey team, which opens play today in the Colonial Athletic Association tournament. The ninth-ranked Dukes (12-8), seeded No. 2 in the tournament, play No. 7 seed Virginia Commonwealth in the opening round at 12:30 p.m. Weiss, a graduate of Marple Newtown, has played in all 20 of her team's games, starting 18 of them. She ranks fifth on the team in goals scored.

Ron Curry saw no reason to wait. The Paul VI junior guard said he knew James Madison was the right college for him, so he made the commitment Thursday to play for the Dukes. "I liked everything about the school," Curry said. "Some other schools were starting to come around, and I knew I wouldn't find anything better. " James Madison's coach is former Paul VI star Matt Brady. Curry said he made two visits to the school, one in the summer and another in the fall to attend a football game.

Brett Gordon threw for 421 yards and four touchdowns, including the tiebreaker with a little more than 11 minutes to play, as Villanova held off surprising James Madison, 30-26, last night. Villanova improved to 4-1 overall and 2-1 in the Atlantic Ten. The Wildcats entered the game ranked No. 8 in NCAA Division I-AA, and James Madison (3-2, 2-1) was No. 23 after an overtime win at Hofstra last weekend. The Dukes led by 20-16 after Trey Townsend returned a blocked field goal 80 yards for a touchdown with 9 minutes, 21 seconds to play in the third quarter.

Certainly, Villanova had to play well in all three phases of the game to finish its regular season with a 9-2 record, but a key that didn't show up in the statistics was the Wildcats' ability to focus on the game at hand. The Wildcats will have to do that again today when they take on Colgate (9-2) at Villanova Stadium in the opening round of the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs, and not look ahead to a possible rematch with top-ranked James Madison in the second round.

James Madison coach Matt Brady had to watch his men's basketball team attempt to withstand one injury after another this season, so in a symbolic way, it should be no surprise that the 1983 graduate of Paul VI is on crutches. After a few of his players went down, Brady did the same. With so few available bodies to practice late in the season, Brady, a former standout at Siena after his stellar career at Paul VI, served as one of the practice bodies. He suffered a torn Achilles tendon, forcing him to coach the rest of the season on crutches.

RICHMOND, Va. - Forget the record, Drexel basketball coach Bruiser Flint was impressed with his upcoming opponent in Saturday's noon Colonial Athletic Association quarterfinal at the Richmond Coliseum. No. 9-seeded North Carolina-Wilmington (10-20) earned the quarterfinal berth with Friday's 70-59 win over No. 8 James Madison. Regular-season champion Drexel (25-5), which has won 17 consecutive games, earned a first-round bye. UNC-W played the opening game of the CAA tournament and thus performed before many empty seats, but Flint stayed for the entire game.

These four athletes are the top contenders to be the South Jersey Player of the Year in boys' basketball: Ron Curry, 6-3 senior guard, Paul VI: Averaging 16.3 points through Friday. Had 11 points, six assists, and four steals in a big win Thursday over Bishop Eustace. Scored 18 in a victory over Philadelphia power Roman Catholic. Has signed with James Madison. Xavier Lundy, 6-5 junior forward, Paulsboro: Averaging 20.4 points. Has led the Red Raiders to an undefeated regular season, 26-0.

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.

OF ALL THE rebounds Samme Givens has collected or will collect from here on out, he'll always remember the final one he hauled in last night. It was Senior Night and Givens' final appearance in front of the Drexel crazies. He needed eight rebounds to become the 22nd area Division I player to score 1,000 points and collect 1,000 boards. When he grabbed a nondescript carom off teammate Dartaye Ruffin's missed shot, Givens etched his name next to some of the greats in Philadelphia college basketball history.

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.

Harrisonburg, Va. - Frantz Massenat had 16 points, and Samme Givens had 14 points and 13 rebounds as the Drexel Dragons won their 12th straight game with a 63-56 win over James Madison in a Colonial Athletic Association contest Wednesday night. JMU had won the previous three meetings, and Dukes head coach Matt Brady was 4-2 against Drexel before Wednesday. The last win for the Dragons over JMU came Feb. 27, 2010 in Harrisonburg, 67-64. Massenat, a sophomore guard who had a career-high 25 points Saturday at Towson, had eight points in both halves, and the Dragons pulled away with an 11-2 run midway through the second half.

J.C.A. Stagg is professor of history and editor-in-chief of The Papers of James Madison at the University of Virginia, and author of the forthcoming The War of 1812: Conflict for a Continent from Cambridge University Press On Nov. 22, 1787, James Madison published, in the New York Daily Advertiser, what would become arguably his best-known work - the much celebrated 10th Federalist essay. Among the advantages promised by "a well constructed union," Madison wrote, "none deserves to be more accurately developed than its tendency to break and control the violence of faction.

EVERYONE has heard of Sweet 16 parties, held to help girls celebrate that rite-of-passage birthday. Here's hoping not too many of you are aware of Sweaty 17s, and especially have not been forced to partake. "They're like hell. That's what they're like," Jai Williams said yesterday, allowing just the hint of a smile to cross his face. The 6-9, 240-pound Williams, a junior, plays basketball as a power forward/center for Philadelphia Electrical & Technology Charter, and already he boasts offers from La Salle and James Madison.