The No. 5 seed Drexel Dragons once again let winless No. 12 seed Towson hang around in the first round of the CAA Tournament, but once again, they held on for the victory. The Dragons, who only defeated Towson by six and three points in the teams' two regular-season matchups, once again held on, defeating Towson 75-69 to advance to play Virginia Commonwealth in the CAA Tournament Quarterfinals on Saturday.
Drexel moves to 21-9 on the year, while Towson's season ends with a 4-26 record and zero wins in the CAA.
Sammie Givens scored 22 points and grabbed 14 rebounds to lead the Dragons, who opened the second half on a 22-9 run to take a 50-37 lead with 12:06 left in the second half. Towson rallied, though, cutting the lead to 64-62 on a three-pointer by Rashawn Polk. Towson even had a chance to tie the game with 33 seconds left after two missed Drexel free throws, but Josh Brown missed a layup and Drexel was able to survive.
Brown led Towson with 18 points, while Dre Conner added 14 points off the bench.