The Virginia Commonwealth Rams would have faced a long, long wait on Selection Sunday if they didn’t win the Colonial Athletic Association Tournament in their home city of Richmond, Virginia. The team that made the Final Four last year had to defeat the Drexel Dragons on Monday night if it wanted to be certain of a return trip to the NCAA Tournament and another chance to bust millions of brackets.

True to their resolve and resourcefulness – everything you’d expect from a program that’s already climbed so many mountains – the Rams rose to the occasion, and now they’re going to be the double-digit seed that absolutely no one wants to face on the first weekend of the tournament.

Virginia Commonwealth built a huge lead before hanging on for dear life at the end of regulation. The Rams barely staved off a bold Drexel rally to win the CAA Tournament and punch a ticket for March Madness. Drexel, the regular-season champion of the league, lost its first game since Jan. 2, but the Dragons are hardly assured of an at-large NCAA berth. They’ll face the long wait that VCU managed to avoid.

The first five minutes involved a lot of nervous energy, as the two teams probed their opponent’s weaknesses and played on relatively even terms. VCU led 10-9 after the first five minutes.

Then came the storm.

The Rams’ fullcourt defensive pressure totally flustered Drexel’s backcourt. A flurry of turnovers by the Dragons led to stacks of easy baskets for VCU, which looked every bit the team that crashed the Final Four party 12 months ago. Overflowing with confidence and performing at their peak, the Rams raced to a 35-19 halftime lead and had the Dragons teetering on the edge of a blowout loss, which would have made it that much more likely that Drexel would not have much of a shot on Selection Sunday.

However, Drexel showed why it won the Colonial’s regular season championship. The Dragons just kept fighting in the second half, and they eventually slowed the game down to the point where VCU’s pressure didn’t have the same destructive effect. The Rams missed three-point shots and committed a few turnovers of their own. Drexel’s Damion Lee hit multiple threes as the home stretch approached, and amazingly, the Dragons – once on the canvas – pulled within three points, at 54-51, with 1:14 left. Virginia Commonwealth made just enough foul shots to stay in front, but when Drexel received a three-pointer from Chris Fouch at the 16-second mark, VCU led by only one, 57-56. The Rams needed two foul shots to feel somewhat safe, and thankfully for them, Troy Daniels was able to make both of his attempts with 11 seconds to go. Drexel’s Frantz Massenat got a three-point look with four seconds left, but it banged off the iron. VCU gathered the rebound with 1.5 seconds and ran out the clock, setting off a massive celebration in Richmond.

Drexel deserves to make the NCAA Tournament as an at-large team, but the unfortunate thing about losing a game like this is that the decision is not in the Dragons’ hands. It’s in the hands of a committee in an Indianapolis office.

Virginia Commonwealth, though, is dancing. Watch out, high majors. The Rams are coming to a bracket where you live.

Matt Zemek
DFN Sports Senior Staff Writer

The Drexel Dragons won the regular season title in the Colonial Athletic Association. They’re now one win from adding a tournament championship to their resume and avoiding the need for scrutiny on Selection Sunday. The Dragons waxed the Old Dominion Monarchs to move to the final against Virginia Commonwealth in Richmond, Virginia.

Drexel won this game with defense, holding ODU to 33 percent shooting from the floor, including a 3-of-18 showing from three-point range. The Dragons were prepared well by head coach Bruiser Flint, who devised a game plan that shut down Old Dominion’s leading scorer, Kent Bazemore. Old Dominion needed Bazemore to dominate this game, but Drexel dominated the Monarchs’ main man, who scored 12 points on 6-of-20 shooting and was frustrated throughout this contest. Drexel was led by Frantz Massenat’s 20 points. Teammate Damion Lee added 17.

(2) Virginia Commonwealth 74 (3) George Mason 64

The Virginia Commonwealth Rams might be happy to be in the Colonial Athletic Association Tournament’s championship game, but that sense of happiness might be accompanied by more than a little relief as well. It’s not often that a team establishes a massive advantage in the first nine minutes of a contest, so when that team nearly throws it all away, the feelings normally associated with victory – euphoria, exhilaration, ecstasy – can give way to a more subdued response. That could be true for VCU, which stormed to a huge early lead against the George Mason Patriots and then faltered badly before recovering in the final minutes to reach the CAA final against Drexel on Monday night.

It was hard to believe the way this game began, but the scoreboard at Richmond Coliseum simply couldn’t tell a lie: Virginia Commonwealth bolted to a 22-0 lead in the first six and a half minutes of this game, forging a 32-4 lead at the 11-minute mark of the first half. That’s right – not only did VCU hold George Mason to four points in nine minutes, a pace consistent with fewer than 20 points for a regulation-length game; the Rams scored 32 points in those same nine minutes, consistent with a pace that would produce over 130 points in a regulation contest. That’s simply insane. VCU coach Shaka Smart probably knew that it would be hard to keep his team’s attention after that huge start, but the notion of seeing that 28-point lead evaporate was hard to grasp.

Yet, George Mason almost did the deed. The Patriots pulled within just seven points of the lead with 7:30 left in regulation, making the game a full-out dogfight. Mason lacked a finishing kick, however, due to some panicky possessions that ended in deep, hoisted jumpers from difficult positions on the floor. VCU held the fort on defense and avoided a horrible loss. The Rams need to regroup from this victory, because at the very end of it, it felt more like survival instead of triumph.

Bradford Burgess scored 20 points for VCU. Teammate Troy Daniels added 17. The Rams hit 11 threes to just four for George Mason, which was led by Mike Morrison’s 20 points.

Matt Zemek
DFN Sports Senior Staff Writer

(4) Old Dominion 88 (5) Delaware 74

Old Dominion has made the NCAA Tournament each of the last two seasons, but the Monarchs need to win the CAA Tournament to return to the Big Dance in 2012. The fourth seed got off to a good start by disposing of fifth-seeded Delaware on Saturday afternoon in Richmond. The Monarchs weren’t overwhelmingly efficient, but through rebounding (18 offensive boards to Delaware’s 11) and good ball security (only seven turnovers to Delaware’s 11), they earned 15 more shots than the Blue Hens, 70 to 55. Kent Bazemore led Old Dominion with 24 points, and teammate Donte Hill scored an efficient 15 points on 7-of-12 shooting. ODU gained a 47-42 halftime lead and extended that cushion in the second half thanks to vigilant perimeter defense which forced Delaware into a rough shooting day behind the three-point arc. The Blue Hens hit only 5 of 17 threes, and that blunted their attempt at a comeback down the stretch. Old Dominion will now get its shot at regular-season champion Drexel in the CAA semifinals.

(2) Virginia Commonwealth 75 (7) Northeastern 65

The Virginia Commonwealth Rams began their postseason push on Saturday, trying to get back to the very same NCAA Tournament they inhabited a year ago with great results. The 2011 Final Four program took the first step to a 2012 tournament ticket by putting away a pesky bunch of Northeastern Huskies in an evening quarterfinal. VCU put itself in position to face the third-seeded George Mason Patriots in the second CAA semifinal, a game that will clearly eliminate one team from tournament consideration while giving the winner a chance to gain an automatic bid in Monday night’s tournament final.

Virginia Commonwealth allowed Northeastern to hit 51 percent of its shots, but the Rams forced 25 turnovers against the Huskies and racked up 14 steals. The flood of takeaways enabled VCU to get stacks of cheap baskets, particularly in the second half, and change the tenor of the game, which was tied at 26 at the half. What was especially impressive about VCU’s defense is that eight players nabbed at least one steal. The Rams’ defensive rotations were crisp, and they bottled up the Huskies at almost every turn.

(3) George Mason 61 (6) Georgia State 59

The George Mason Patriots almost failed to meet Virginia Commonwealth, but the much-anticipated semifinal will indeed be played on Sunday after GMU nipped the Georgia State Panthers at the wire. George Mason owned a 59-55 lead with 1:14 left in regulation, but a bucket, a steal, and another bucket enabled GSU to tie the score at 59-all with 18 seconds left. George Mason called a timeout, and after inbounding the ball at midcourt, the Patriots watched as Byron Allen took the ball underneath the basket in traffic. Allen found a small pocket of space and used it to get near the backboard. Allen tried a reverse layup on the left side of the basket, and the ball was slickly kissed off the window with 3.4 seconds left. George Mason watched Georgia State throw up an off-balance 30-footer at the final horn, but the attempt missed by several feet, and the Patriots had escaped thanks to Allen’s heroics. George Mason won despite hitting just 2 of 15 three-point shots. The Patriots will have to be much better against Virginia Commonwealth, that’s for sure.

Matt Zemek

This was a game in which UNCW pounded James Madison in the paint and on the glass. The Seahawks gained 15 offensive rebounds compared to just seven for the Dukes. This led to a plus-nine disparity in foul shots earned (32 for Wilmington, 23 for James Madison) and a plus-13 differential in makes, which led the Seahawks to the winner’s circle. UNC-Wilmington will find it hard to do the same things against Drexel; the Seahawks will need to shoot a lot better than the 39.6-percent clip they posted on Friday afternoon against JMU.

(5) Delaware 72 (12) Towson 65

The Towson Tigers at least won one game in their 2011-2012 season. Unfortunately, it was their only win of the whole campaign. Yes, Towson’s sad journey through an American winter ended on Friday, as the No. 12 seed fell to 1-31 and quietly exited the stage in Richmond. The Tigers spilled the tank and pushed the Delaware Blue Hens to the limit, but the No. 5 seed kept its poise long enough to hold on down the stretch and advance to a Saturday quarterfinal against fourth-seeded Old Dominion.

What’s astonishing about this game is that Towson destroyed Delaware on the boards, 48-27, snagging 24 offensive rebounds to just six for the Blue Hens. However, Towson still shot 15 fewer free throws than Delaware (23 to 38) and hit only 34 percent of its field goal attempts. The inability to finish near the basket is clearly reflective of a team without the skilled players needed to win. Reinforcements are on the way in Towson, but not until November of 2012. This season’s over, and the Tigers hope that they won’t have to live through this kind of season ever again.

(7) Northeastern 57 (10) William & Mary 49

Unlike the Towson-Delaware game, the team that dominated on the offensive glass was actually able to parlay that advantage into a bonanza at the foul line and win as a result. The Northeastern Huskies grabbed 13 offensive rebounds compared to just four for the William & Mary Tribe, and Northeastern used that rebounding edge to earn a plus-15 differential in free throw makes (20 to 5). Those extra 15 points naturally made the difference in an eight-point game, propelling the seventh seed past the 10 seed and into the quarterfinals against No. 2 Virginia Commonwealth. Neither team shot well in what was a very unartful game, but Northeastern won’t mind. It simply survived and advanced, hoping that its best and most elegant basketball can be displayed against VCU, the team with a Final Four banner under its belt.

(6) Georgia State 85 (11) Hofstra 50

The final first-round game of the day in Richmond was also the most lopsided one. The Georgia State Panthers hit 59 percent of their field goal attempts and raced past the Hofstra Pride to earn a quarterfinal date with third-seeded George Mason. Georgia State was able to get at least eight points from six different players, a sign of both balance and superior ball movement. GSU ran Hofstra in circles, playing with a level of crispness and precision that will need to remain for the quarterfinal clash with Mason. Georgia State also added nine steals, generating easy buckets in transition and preventing Hofstra from gaining any flow in its halfcourt sets.

Matt Zemek

Wednesday, February 22

Northeastern 85 George Mason 82 (OT)

Delaware 76 Towson 69

VCU 63 UNC-Wilmington 59

Drexel 78 James Madison 61

Old Dominion 65 Georgia State 60

William & Mary 75 Hofstra 71

Saturday, February 25

Georgia State 64 William & Mary 60

James Madison 65 Towson 59

Drexel 73 Old Dominion 72

Hofstra 93 UNC-Wilmington 64

Delaware 82 Northeastern 72

VCU 89 George Mason 77

Few college basketball pundits saw this coming before the start of the season, but the Drexel Dragons have risen to the top of the Colonial Athletic Association, winning the regular-season conference championship and gaining a substantial amount of leverage in the pursuit of an at-large bid for the NCAA Tournament.

The CAA boasted a defending Final Four team in Virginia Commonwealth, a program with a Final Four to its name – George Mason – and an Old Dominion squad that had been able to reach consecutive NCAA Tournaments. This was a deep league, a loaded league, a hard league for an upstart to claim as its own, but Drexel, thanks to the leadership of coach Bruiser Flint, has managed to upend the orthodoxy on the Atlantic Seaboard. Drexel went into Norfolk, Virginia, and nudged Old Dominion on Saturday to win the outright CAA title at 16-2 in the league, beating Virginia Commonwealth by one game after the Rams moved to 15-3 with a win over George Mason. A 15-3 mark in the CAA is nothing to sneeze at, but VCU won’t be able to add to the trophy case with that record. Drexel managed to be one game better, earning the kind of distinction that carries quite a bit of weight if a Selection Sunday debate is to be had. Drexel is clearly the CAA’s best hope for an at-large team, while George Mason – with two losses this past week – is most assuredly out of the at-large chase. The best possible outcome at the league’s upcoming conference tournament will be for VCU to defeat Drexel in the final. That’s the outcome which could give the Colonial two teams in March Madness.

CAA Conference Tournament Matchups:

First Round:

(12) Towson vs. (5) Delaware

(9) UNC-Wilmington vs. (8) James Madison

(10) William & Mary vs. (7) Northeastern

(11) Hofstra vs. (6) Georgia State

Quarterfinals:

Top Half of Bracket

9/8 winner vs. (1) Drexel

12/5 winner vs. (4) Old Dominion

Bottom Half

10/7 winner vs. (2) Virginia Commonwealth

11/6 winner vs. (3) George Mason

Semifinals

Game 1: Top half winners

Game 2: Bottom half winners

Final

Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner

Matt Zemek
DFN Sports Senior Staff Writer

Tuesday, February 14

George Mason 62, VCU 61

Drexel 63, William & Mary 61

Georgia State 67, James Madison 64

Northeastern 70, Towson 51

Old Dominion 81 UNC-Wilmington 64

Delaware 71, Hofstra 57

Friday, February 17

VCU 77 Northern Iowa 68

Saturday, February 18

Drexel 69, Cleveland State 49

Stony Brook 76, Northeastern 69

VMI 73, William & Mary 65

Delaware 68, Hampton 64

Detroit 82, James Madison 70

Manhattan 79, UNC-Wilmington 64

New Hampshire 72, Towson 58

George Mason 75, Lamar 71

Hofstra 81, Siena 69

Old Dominion 73, Missouri State 67

Georgia State 82, UTSA 71

The two Colonial Athletic Association teams that have created such indelible March Madness memories over the past six college basketball seasons produced a game on Tuesday night that felt every bit like an NCAA Tournament classic. Rich in energy and packed with drama, the tussle between the George Mason Patriots – heroes of the 2006 NCAA Tournament – and the Virginia Commonwealth Rams – co-stars along with Butler in the 2011 event – captivated a crowd on the GMU campus in Fairfax, ‘virginia. When VCU broke a 51-all tie, however, and gained a 56-51 lead in the final three minutes, that same George Mason crowd had to feel very worried. This VCU team does not have the exact same roster composition of the 2011 Final Four squad, but it still has some of those prime performers, and so when the Rams did their 2011-like thing to storm in front by six points, well, the outlook had to be viewed as bleak for the Patriots and first-year head coach Paul Hewitt.

Almost three minutes later, it grew even more bleak, as Virginia Commonwealth hit enough foul shots to establish a 60-56 lead with only 10 ticks left on the clock. Four points in 10 seconds? Who overcomes a deficit like that?

Well, that’s precisely when the spirit of 2006 and the magic accompanying GMU’s run to the Final Four were summoned. George Mason’s Vertrail Vaughns nailed a three with four seconds left to trim the deficit to one point, 60-59. The Patriots fouled VCU’s Briante Weber with three seconds left. Weber split a pair of foul shots, but with only three seconds to go, George Mason had to cover 94 feet and shoot within that period of time.

No problem. GMU’s Sherrod Wright let fly from 30 feet from the left wing. The running shot just happened to splash right through the twine, setting off an insane celebration inside the Patriot Center on the GMU campus. Virginia Commonwealth players were stunned, but for the men of Mason, it was a night that will never be forgotten. NCAA Tournament hopes can take a backseat for just a little while; a moment frozen in time is what will characterize this most recent week of CAA basketball.

In the BracketBusters event, the Colonial picked up wins at the top, as Drexel, VCU and George Mason all took care of business. The middle and lower tiers of the league got beaten up, but NCAA Tournament bids are claimed by the top teams, so as the CAA Tournament approaches, there’s still hope that this league could get more than one squad into the Big Dance.

Matt Zemek
DFN Sports Senior Staff Writer

Wednesday, February 8

Delaware 71 UNC-Wilmington 53

Drexel 63 James Madison 56

George Mason 72 Hofstra 62

Georgia State 61 Northeastern 59

Old Dominion 70 William & Mary 51

Virginia Commonwealth 66 Towson 43

Saturday, February 11

James Madison 58 Towson 56

Virginia Commonwealth 68 Old Dominion 64

Delaware 80 Georgia State 77 (OT)

Drexel 78 Hofstra 67

George Mason 75 UNC-Wilmington 69

William & Mary 79 Northeastern 54

The past week of basketball in the Colonial Athletic Association created a very interesting dynamic in which the seeds of postseason chaos could be sewn. If you recall the way the 2011 CAA Tournament unfolded, you might realize that potential havoc could emerge a month from now in Richmond, Virginia.

A year ago, three CAA teams made the NCAA Tournament, but the third team was the fourth seed in the conference tournament. Virginia Commonwealth entered the CAA tourney as an NIT team which needed to make a move in Richmond in order to change the conversation and transform itself into an NCAA club. George Mason and Old Dominion had ruled the roost in the CAA that season, forcing VCU to make noise in the postseason portion of the schedule. This put pressure on the Rams, but it also gave them the urgency they needed to answer the bell. VCU took down top-seeded George Mason in the CAA semifinals before losing to second-seeded Old Dominion in the title game. The win over Mason and the strong showing against ODU was enough to get the Rams into one of the two “First Four” play-in games. The Rams did the rest, running to the Final Four in Houston before losing to Butler.

Now, as the 2012 CAA season takes shape, a situation eerily akin to 2011 could be unfolding.

This past Saturday, Virginia Commonwealth stopped Old Dominion to maintain the three-way tie at the top of the league with George Mason and Drexel, who both went 2-0 this past week in tandem with VCU. At the present moment, the VCU-Mason-Drexel trio stands at 13-2 in the league. Old Dominion, after this loss, is 11-4 and very likely ticketed for the fourth seed in the conference tournament. It’s clear that when the CAA Tournament starts, Mason and VCU will be in the NCAA field, with Drexel likely to get in as well. It’s Old Dominion which will have to make a run in Richmond, but as VCU showed a year ago, this can definitely be done. There’s more than a little precedent for that sort of event.

The fun is just starting in this part of the country. The next three weeks are going to be highly eventful.

Matt Zemek
DFN Sports Senior Staff Writer

Monday, January 30

East Tennessee State 70 James Madison 56

Wednesday, February 1

Delaware 65 George Mason 60

Drexel 61 Northeastern 53

Georgia State 68 UNC-Wilmington 53

Hofstra 74 Towson 49

Virginia Commonwealth 87, William & Mary 78

Thursday, February 2

Old Dominion 80, James Madison 71

Saturday, February 4

Delaware 85 James Madison 80

Georgia State 59 Hofstra 43

George Mason 54 Old Dominion 50

Drexel 65 Towson 57

Virginia Commonwealth 59 Northeastern 56

UNC-Wilmington 81 William & Mary 68

As the 2012 Colonial Athletic Association season evolves and February arrives, it’s becoming an increasingly giddy time for the conference that delivered three NCAA Tournament teams last season. Indeed, one year after getting George Mason, Virginia Commonwealth, and Old Dominion into the field of 68, it seems that the CAA is poised to bring another trio into Bracketville this March.

If you look across the country, so many bubble teams are failing to hold up under pressure. The Pac-12 Conference could very well be a one-bid league. The Atlantic Coast Conference doesn’t possess the depth it once had, and the Southeastern Conference is going to find it hard to deliver more than four teams to the Big Dance. This leaves open bids available for mid-major conferences, and the Colonial is doing the work needed to fill in the gaps. Once again, a league with a reputation for being contentious at a high level – far more robust than the Sun Belt – is producing the kind of quality that will result in three bids to the NCAAs.

After the first weekend of February, three teams stand above the rest of the Colonial, and they stand above the rest of the Colonial in a way that will bring them a bracket bounty. George Mason fended off Old Dominion in a classic defensive grinder on Saturday to not only share first place, but deal ODU a crushing loss in the Monarchs’ chase for an at-large bid. Old Dominion entered Saturday’s game with nine losses, so even though coach Blaine Taylor’s team is still an impressive 10-3 in the CAA, it really doesn’t have much of a leg to stand on in the at-large derby.

This league belongs to George Mason, Virginia Commonwealth, and – as the interloper – the Drexel Dragons. While Mason topped ODU on Saturday, VCU and Drexel also posted victories to create a three-way tie for the Colonial lead at 11-2. Neither Virginia Commonwealth nor Drexel was particularly impressive, but part of being a tournament-worthy team is found in the ability to win on subpar afternoons. The Rams and Dragons fought through a lot of sluggishness to sustain their places at the top of the conference.

In sum, the Mason-VCU-Drexel trio has a combined record of 58-16. None of these three teams has more than six losses; all of them have at least 19 wins. They have not given away bad defeats this season, and that’s why they’re on track for at-large bids.

Matt Zemek
DFN Sports Senior Staff Writer

Monday, January 23

Delaware 62, Towson 43

Old Dominion 69, Northeastern 57

Georgia State 74, James Madison 58

VCU 61, Hofstra 49

Drexel 64, William & Mary 48

George Mason 67, UNC-Wilmington 61

Wednesday, January 25

Northeastern 62, Delaware 61

VCU 67, Towson 42

Old Dominion 53, UNC-Wilmington 48

Drexel 68, Georgia State 46

George Mason 55, Hofstra 50

Thursday, January 26

James Madison 59, William & Mary 47

Saturday, January 28

Northeastern 58, Hofstra 51

Towson 66, UNC-Wilmington 61

Drexel 71, Delaware 55

George Mason 89, James Madison 79

Old Dominion 68, William & Mary 44

VCU 59, Georgia State 58

Teams are chasing NCAA Tournament and NIT berths in the Colonial Athletic Association, but the high-level pursuit of postseason berths – for at least one week – took a backseat to a distinctly different sort of drama.

The Towson Tigers entered this weekend’s game against the UNC-Wilmington Seahawks saddled with a 41-game losing streak, a record skid in the history of Division I-A men’s college basketball. The Tigers had not won a game – ANY GAME – since the year 2010, a truly unfathomable occurrence in a sport where teams usually find a way to schedule at least one cupcake against a lower-division school at some point along the line before the conference season revs into gear. Yet, Towson simply could not pull down that kind of victory in November and December, forcing the Tigers to have to break through – if they WERE going to break through at all – against a conference opponent. With major news outlets giving the Tigers a lot of coverage and many national college basketball journalists following their story, Towson faced a strange mix of pressure and publicity after toiling in obscurity for most of the season. Reaching record streaks – even if said streaks exist for all the worst reasons – can always be counted on to bring the cameras to your building.

Now, the cameras will leave – for all the right reasons. Towson finally did manage to walk off the court a winner. The Tigers used a high-energy performance – particularly near the basket – to fend off UNCW at the Towson Center in Towson, Maryland. Marcus Damas scored 18 points and Robert Nwankwo produced a 12-point, 11-rebound effort for the Tigers, who outplayed Wilmington on the glass and took the ball strong to the tin in the final minutes of regulation to nail down the win. Towson didn’t settle for long shots and instead worked to own every bit of real estate on the court. That’s how you put your foot down and say “enough is enough.” Towson coach Pat Skerry won his first game at the school, getting a big money off his back and enabling his players to play the rest of the season with a newly liberated mental outlook.

George Mason leads the Colonial with a 10-1 conference record, while Virginia Commonwealth, Drexel, and Old Dominion all sit at 9-2 with a say in the CAA discussion this season. VCU and Drexel are looking like attractive NCAA Tournament at-large candidates, while Old Dominion – burdened with nine losses – will probably need to win the CAA Tournament to advance to the Big Dance.

For one week, though, these dramas weren’t the focal point in the CAA. The Towson Tigers have won, and that’s what people in this part of the college basketball world will remember.

Matt Zemek
DFN Sports Senior Staff Writer