The Triangle

Issue date: 3/11/11 Section: Sports

Dan Leung The Triangle Drexel sophomore guard Chris Fouch led the Dragons with 20 points and seven rebounds in a losing effort to VCU 62-60 March 5 in the quarterfinals of the CAA tournament.

The Drexel men's basketball team concluded its 2010-11 Colonial Athletic Association season March 5 with a 62-60 loss to Virginia Commonwealth University in the quarterfinals of the CAA Tournament in Richmond, Va.

The Dragons (21-10, 11-7 CAA) made it to the second round of the tournament where they ultimately lost to VCU (23-11, 12-6) on a last second, buzzer-beating layup by the Rams' Jamie Skeen.

The Rams went on to upset the tournament's No. 1, George Mason (26-6, 16-2) and make it all the way to the final round where they butted heads with No. 2 Old Dominion (27-6, 14-4).

The Monarchs eventually defeated the Rams 77-69 to earn an automatic bid to the National Collegiate Athletic Association Tournament.

As for the Dragons, their journey through the CAA tournament might have been shorter than appreciated, but they did accomplish some great things.

First, Drexel matched up with Towson (4-26, 0-18) in the opening round of the tournament March 4. Coming into the game, the Dragons already had the upper hand with two regular season victories over the Tigers, including their regular season finale, in which Drexel won 66-63.

The final matchup between the two teams was more of the same as the Dragons defeated the Tigers 75-69. Leading Drexel past the first round was junior forward Samme Givens, who recorded yet another double-double on the season with a game-high 22 points and 14 rebounds.

The victory over the Tigers earned Drexel a berth in the quarterfinals of the tournament. They faced VCU who, the last time the two teams met, were defeated by Drexel 64-60 on the Dragons' senior night.

Unfortunately for Drexel, despite a 20-point performance from sophomore guard Chris Fouch, and due to a large assortment of fouls - Givens scored 13 and pulled down eight boards before fouling out, and Daryl McCoy and Dartaye Ruffin both fouled out as well - the Rams took the victory on some last-second heroics by the games top scorer Skeen.

Leading up to that moment, the Dragons had come back to tie a game in which they were at one point trailing by seven points, as Fouch hit a three to tie it with just 18 seconds remaining. Regrettably, VCU had other plans for a last-second shot.

Continued...

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