Leaving Nothing to Chance

Despite a nearly eight-minute second half scoring drought, the No. 1 VCU Rams held off the No. 4 Drexel Dragons 63-56 to earn a spot in Monday night's Colonial Athletic Association championship game.

The Rams will play the winner of the late semifinal pitting No. 2 Old Dominion vs. No. 6 seeded George Mason tomorrow at 7 p.m.

And depending on who you listen to, the regular season CAA champs, boasting 26 wins, may not even need a win to land a spot in the NCAA tournament's field of 65. But it sure would make Selection Sunday a whole lot easier to enjoy.

"I don't know," said VCU senior guard B.A. Walker when asked about whether the Rams' win had sewn up a spot in the tourney. "The only sure way is to come out and win tomorrow."

Walker finished with 14 points, while Michael Anderson and Jesse Pellot-Rosa scored 16 apiece. After the game, senior guard and Richmond native Pellot-Rosa was receiving treatment for a sprained arch in his right foot, an ailment sustained in the Rams' quarterfinal win over Georgia State.

"He's a tough character," Walker said of Pellot-Rosa in a post-game press conference. "I didn't worry about him at all."

VCU Coach Anthony Grant added, "Jesse's hurt. There's a difference between being hurt and injured."

The Rams controlled the game for all but an eight-minute stretch in the second half, when VCU went scoreless and let an 18-point lead dwindle down to just six. The Dragons, fueled by 15 points from big man Frank Elegar, for were then able to trim the lead to 54-49 with 2:14 remaining.

'We got it down to five and we didn't get the ball to a couple of the guys we should have," Drexel Coach Bruiser Flint said, attributing the Rams 22 points off turnovers not to their tenacious press but to sloppy passing. But the lackluster ball-handling went both ways – Drexel dropped in 26 points off VCU turnovers.

Now Drexel (23-8, 13-6) is very much a team on the NCAA bubble. With the exception of this loss, their at-large credentials are much stronger than VCU's, sporting road wins at Syracuse, Villanova and most recently at Missouri Valley tournament champion Creighton in the ESPN BrackBusters. The Dragons' RPI is 42, compared with VCU at 57.

"In my opinion, Drexel belongs in the NCAA tournament," Grant said.

Last season, George Mason earned the CAA's first at-large bid in two decades.

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RBlog coverage In addition to our comprehensive game coverage, we'll also be delivering lighter takes and the inside scoop from the Richmond Coliseum. From the beer taps to the mascots' locker room, we'll be there. VOTE: Who will win the CAA men's tourney? Check out our Ultimate CAA Guide for all the info!