Drexel to play Northeastern to start CAA Tournament

THE NATURE of the college basketball coaching profession often makes observers question the sanity of coaches during games. But for the most part, they deal in reality.

So when Drexel coach Bruiser Flint was asked if he feels some satisfaction with the Dragons season, considering major injuries sustained by key players, he replied, "In that respect, yes. But we've lost four close games. If we'd won those, our record would be so much better."

The fourth-seeded Dragons take an 8-8 conference record (16-13 overall) into the Colonial Athletic Association Tournament at Baltimore Arena this weekend. Drexel faces fifth-seeded Northeastern (7-9, 10-20) tomorrow at 2:30 p.m. in a quarterfinal.

In the CAA preseason poll, Drexel was picked No. 2, behind Towson because the Dragons returned 1,000-point scorers Chris Fouch and Frantz Massenat, plus junior Damion Lee, who was 40 points shy of the 1,000 career milestone.

Lee was sidelined for the season with a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee in the fifth game. In early February, junior forward Kazembe Abif (6.6 rebounds, 7.2 points) went down for the season with a fractured left hand.

On the bright side, Fouch and Massenat have had productive seasons. Fouch ranks sixth among CAA scorers at 17.9 points per game; Massenat is seventh (17.4). Massenat also leads the conference in assists (4.8 ppg) and assist/turnover ratio (2.6). Fouch is second in free-throw shooting (.843).

Massenat has rebounded from a disappointing junior season when he was the CAA Preseason Player of the Year. Last night, he was named first-team all-CAA, and Fouch was named to the second team. "My role was different last season," Massenat said. "My sophomore year I got the ball to Samme [Givens]. Last year, I had to score more. It took some time to adjust."

Some other reasons for Drexel's 6-4 record in its last 10 games are the consistency of senior Dartaye Ruffin (7.9 rebounds per game, sixth best in the CAA), Tavon Allen's scoring off the bench and the contributions of freshmen Rodney Williams, Major Canady and Mohamed Bah. Williams was named to the CAA All-Rookie team.

"The freshmen have all improved," Flint said. Strong praise since Flint praises freshmen in public about as often as the Sixers win games.

Flint's teams are known for their stubborn defense. The Dragons rank second in the CAA in scoring defense (66.6 per game). If Drexel expects to win some games in Baltimore though, it must improve its long-range shooting: The Dragons are seventh in the CAA (.309). Prior to the regular-season finale, when Fouch hit five of 14 threes in a two-point loss to Northeastern, he had made only four of 25 in the previous five games. He is shooting .318 on threes.

Drexel split its conference games with Northeastern. Flint sees the CAA Tournament as "wide open." Delaware (14-2, 22-9) is the top seed.

"Everybody has played each other tough, especially away from home," Flint said. "At a neutral site we'll see how everybody stacks up. We'll probably get a few more people. It was tough playing ODU and VCU in that [Richmond] arena; they put a lot of people in there."