Who: Drexel (1-1) vs. Elon (2-1), NIT Season Tip-Off
When: 5 p.m. Monday
Where: Rutgers Athletic Center, Piscataway, N.J.
TV/Radio: None/DrexelDragons.com
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By AARON COLEMAN
Philahoops Staff
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After a 1-1 start that saw a tough 72-67 loss to the UCLA Bruins in Los Angeles and a strong 78-70 road victory over Illinois State, the Drexel Dragons now set their sights on the 2013 NIT Season Tip-Off. Beginning on Monday evening with a date with the 2-1 Elon Phoenix on the campus of Rutgers University, the tournament poses an opportunity to make a lot of noise on the national scene with potential match-ups with national powerhouse schools Duke and Arizona.
Advancing deep into this tournament can do wonders for the Dragons come March, so this is a big opportunity for coach James “Bruiser” Flint’s squad to prove that the 2011-12 season was the true barometer of the program’s future and 2012-13 was just a fluke.
However, another big opportunity for the Dragons in this tournament comes in the form of possibly playing in the most famous arena in the world – Madison Square Garden. The Garden will play host to the semifinals and championship games as well as the third-place consolation game, and Drexel really wants a chance to get to play in the “Mecca” of basketball. MSG has seen five NBA Finals series go down to the wire, unforgettable Big East Tournaments, the 1998 NBA All-Star Game, and other great basketball institutions in its 45-year history so the moniker of the “Mecca” is not just fluff.
As stated before, the history and lore of Madison Square Garden is not lost on the Dragons as they had plenty to say to reporters about potentially playing there for a tournament title. Redshirt sophomore guard Tavon Allen said about suiting up in the same venue as Michael Jordan, Patrick Ewing, and Willis Reed, “I haven’t had a chance to play there but I am really looking forward to it. We just gotta get some wins and get up there to Madison Square Garden. We haven’t talked about it too much, but we just know that if we take it one game at a time, we’ll get there.”
Senior guard and reigning CAA Player of the Week Frantz Massenat told a group of reporters, “I’ve never gotten a chance to play there, but I would love to. That’s a dream of mine. We are going to come in and do as much as possible to get there.”
Clearly, the Dragons are excited at their prospects but are smart and mature enough to know that the road to the Garden will be a tough one.
But for sixth year guard Chris Fouch, a trip to MSG would be a welcomed homecoming for the New York City-bred and born sharpshooter. In his first two games back from last season’s devastating ankle injury that caused him to miss the nearly all of his fifth season with the team, Fouch has averaged 18.5 points per game and nearly six rebounds. When asked about Fouch’s return to the lineup, Massenat said, “It’s great. It’s like an automatic point. Now, I can play more of the passer and less of the scorer. To have another guy be a threat to score, it helps me passing the ball.”
Fouch knows what it is like to play in MSG as he has suited up there on five different occasions as a highly-touted high school star, and he is hungry to play there once more.
“It would mean a lot to get back there in college,” Fouch said about this season’s opportunity. “It’s a whole different type of game. That was a goal for me when we made the NIT (in 2012) and obviously we wanted to win it all. It would mean a lot to play in front of my hometown once more before my college career is over. Just the feel around the arena is great.”
Needless to say, the Dragons are confident and excited heading into the NIT Season Tip-Off, and they are smartly taking it all one game at a time.
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-Scouting Drexel: Last game: 78-70 win at Illinois State. … Seeded No. 8 in the NIT Season Tip Off. …. The Dragons are shooting 42-percent from the floor but only 28-percent from deep. … Both starting forward, Dartaye Ruffin and Kaz Abif, are averaging 10.5 rebounds per game. … Guard Chris Fouch leads the team in scoring with 18.5 points per game, coming off of a 26 point performance at Illinois State. … Damion Lee has struggled to find consistency this season, averaging a starter’s low 26 minutes per game and shooting only 31-percent from the field. … With one more win, Bruiser Flint will pass Sam Cozen for the most wins in Drexel history (currently sitting at 213).
-Scouting Elon: Last game: 69-83 loss at Charlotte. … Seeded No. 6 in the NIT Season Tip Off. … The Phoenixes have five players averaging 12 points per game or more on the season. … Elon is shooting 54-percent as a team this season. … Sophomore guard Tanner Samson is leading the team with 15.3 points per game on 55-percent shooting overall and 56-percent from three. … Elon is outscoring teams by an average of 21 points per game. … The Phoenixes are averaging nine steals per game.
-Scouting Rutgers: Last game: 72-71 win vs. Yale. … Seeded No. 4 in the NIT Season Tip Off. … Kadeem Jack and Myles Mack form a high-scoring inside-outside duo averaging a combined 35.7 points per game, nearly half of the Scarlet Knights’ points. … Jack also leads the team in rebounding grabbing 7.7 caroms per game. … Mack is averaging nearly four steals per game and sports a 1.2 assist-to-turnover ratio. … J.J. Moore is the only other Rutgers player averaging over 10 points per game. … Rutgers is shooting 45-percent from the floor.
-Scouting Canisius: Last game: 64-86 loss at Saint Bonaventure. … Not seeded in the NIT Season Tip Off. … Senior guard Billy Baron leads the Griffins’ scoring attack averaging 25 points per game. … Canisius is getting out-rebounded by an average of eight rebounds per game. … Nine guys on Canisius average 11.5 minutes or more per game. … The Griffins shoot only 37.5-percent from the field as a team and allow opponents to shoot 46.3-percent.
Prediction: The Dragons will be able to control Elon’s high tempo offense and quality guard play to face a Tuesday showdown with the winner of Rutgers and Canisius.
Sound Off: Can Drexel control the pace and slow Elon’s guard-heavy attack to come away with the win?
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NIT Season Tip-Off Bracket:
-Kevin Rossi also contributed to this story.
-Aaron Coleman covers Drexel for Philahoops. Reach him at [email protected], @shutupcole on Twitter, or leave a comment below.
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