TOWSON, Md. - The Tigers (0-14, 0-2 CAA) will make their first Colonial Athletic Association road trip of the season when they travel to Philadelphia to visit old nemesis Drexel (8-5, 0-2 CAA) at 7 p.m. at the Daskalakis Athletic Center.
The Dragons lead the all-time series, 44-13, and have won the last five meetings. Last year, the Dragons won at home, 65-59, before posting a 75-69 verdict in the regular season finale at the Towson Center. The Tigers' last win over Drexel in Philadelphia came back in 2002 when they defeated the Dragons by an 81-65 count.
The Dragons were selected as the preseason choice to win the CAA this season. Drexel has four returning starters back from a 21-10 team that finished 11-7 in the CAA.
But, the Dragons started out slowly this year. After defeating Rider by 80-52, they lost two of three games in the Paradise Jam in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, falling to Norfolk State and Virginia and defeating Winthrop (68-45).
The Dragons followed that performance with losses at St. Joe's and at Delaware.
But on Dec. 10, the Dragons began to play to their potential. They defeated Princeton (64-60), Niagara (71-58), Bradley (73-68), Binghamton (68-44), Fairfield (77-69) and St. Francis, Pa. (63-42).
But, the streak ended on Monday night when they took on a surprising Georgia State squad in Atlanta and fell to the Panthers, 58-44. Georgia State is now on top of the CAA at 2-0 in the league and 10-3 overall.
Coach Bruiser Flint, who is in his 11th season at the helm of Drexel, is known to have teams that are physical in the paint, outstanding on the boards and dominant defensively.
This year is no different as the Dragons average 62.2 points per game and allow just 57.6 points per contest. They are shooting 42% from the field and 33.5% from beyond the arc while allowing teams to shoot 41% from the field and just 26% from beyond the arc.
Another key for Drexel is rebounding margin as they outrebound their opponents by an average of 5.4 boards per game.
The leader of this year's team is senior F Samme Givens (6-5, 220), who averages 12.4 points and 7.1 rebounds per game while shooting 56% from the floor and 73% from the line. He also has a team-high 12 blocks.
The other post player who starts alongside Givens is burly junior Darryl McCoy (6-9, 270), who is second on the team in rebounds with a 6.4 average. He averages 3.5 points per outing and shoot 42% from the floor.
Sophomore Frantz Massenat (6-4, 185) runs the point and is one of the league's most improved players. After averaging 5.5 points per game last season as a freshman, he's now second on the team with a 12.2 scoring average. He also leads the team with 50 assists and is second on the squad with 12 steals. Massenat shoots 38% from the floor, including 41% (21-51) from beyond the arc.
Junior Derrick Thomas (6-4, 195) is a Drexel-type guard that plays tough defense, makes big shots and takes care of the ball. Thomas averages 7.6 points per game while shooting 36% from the field and 26% (11-42) from beyond the arc.
At the wing, freshman Damion Lee (6-6, 200) has given the team a scorer who can shoot it from deep or run the break. Lee originally signed with Towson out of Calvert Hall College H.S. in the Fall of 2009. However, he changed his mind and decided to go to prep school at St. Thomas More (CT) to re-open his recruitment. He decided on Drexel and has become one of the top freshmen in the CAA. He averages 11.4 points and 5.5 rebounds while shooting 42% from the field and 35% (25-71) from beyond the arc.
The team's most explosive scorer comes off the bench. Junior guard Chris Fouch (6-2, 178) has been hampered by injuries for most of his career but when healthy, he makes Drexel tough to stop. In the Dragons' last game against Georgia State, he was the only player in double figures with 18 points. He has averaged 11.9 points per game in 9 appearances while shooting 35% from the floor and 31% (16-52) from the beyond the arc.
Another key player off the bench is sophomore Dartaye Ruffin (6-8, 250), who averages 5.3 points and 4.9 rebounds per game while shooting 47% from the field.
Wednesday's game can be heard on WNST-AM 1570 and a live in-game blog will be available on TowsonTigers.com.
