Dec. 28, 2006

Final Stats

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Dominick Mejia scored 20 points and Frank Elegar had 12 to lead Drexel to its seventh straight win, a 61-49 victory over George Mason on Thursday night.

The Dragons (9-2, 1-0) made a first step toward the Colonial Athletic Association crown after establishing its dominance in Philadelphia this season. George Mason, one of last season's top CAA teams, is 5-5 and 0-1 in the conference.

Will Thomas scored 19 points for George Mason, which has been alternating wins and losses all season.

Tramayne Hawthorne had 10 points and Chaz Crawford grabbed 14 rebounds for Drexel, which improved to 4-0 at the Daskalakis Athletic Center, where there was standing room only in the four corners of the cozy bleacher-seat gym.

Some fans outside were even scalping tickets, a rarity for a basketball program that's not even in the hallowed Big 5 and hasn't made the NCAA tournament since 1996.

Drexel got rolling early in the second half and started to build a bit of a cushion. After wasting a halftime lead, Brashir Mason converted a three-point play to give the Dragons a 33-31 lead. George Mason's John Vaughan dribbled the ball off his sneaker on the next possession, and Mejia scooped up the loose ball for an easy layup.

Hawthorne sank a 3-pointer, then immediately scored a fastbreak layup off another Patriot turnover that made it a six-point lead and started to shift the momentum all Drexel's way.

Mejia did what he does best, burying another 3-pointer from the top of the arc, and when Mason scored a few possessions later, the Dragons grabbed a double-digit lead and cruised from there.

Mejia went 6-for-14 from 3-point range. He hit four 3s in the first half and Elegar capped the first-half scoring with a thunderous dunk off a missed layup to give the Dragons a 30-28 lead at the break.