Drexel Staves Off Late Surge in 84-77 Win over Northeastern
Dylan Smith
CHAMPIONSHIP CENTRAL | TICKETS
PHOTO GALLERY | HIGHLIGHTS
PRESS CONFERENCE – DREXEL | PRESS CONFERENCE – NORTHEASTERN
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Fifth-seeded Drexel utilized a plethora of late free throws to capture an 84-77 victory over 13th-seeded Northeastern in the second round of the 2026 Air Force Reserve CAA Men’s Basketball Championship on Saturday.
Drexel advances to play Monmouth (17-14) in Sunday’s Quarterfinal matchup at 2:30 p.m. Northeastern finishes the regular season with a 7-24 overall record.
Eli Beard went 13-for-15 from the charity stripe, finishing with 21 points and seven rebounds. The Dragons’ top scorer became just the sixth player in tournament history to sink at least 13 free throws. The Dragons knocked down 26 free throws in the win. Victor Panov notched 16 points with four treys on Sunday. Garfield Turner and Martin de Laporterie chipped in 12 and 11 points, respectively.
Northeastern’s Mike Loughnane went off for 29 points on 8-of-10 shooting from the floor, a perfect 3-for-3 from distance and sank all 10 of his free throws. The Huskies’ leading scorer became the seventh player in CAA tournament history to go perfect from the line with at least 10 makes. Liam Koelsch went 7-for-7 from the floor with 14 points, also becoming the seventh CAA player in the tournament’s existence to post a flawless performance from the floor with at least seven made field goals.
Panov and de Laporterie combined for a trio of 3-pointers in the opening 4:27 to help Drexel secure a 13-4 lead. The Dragons watched their lead expand to double figures after Vanderhorst finished at the rim. A 16-4 run for Drexel was led by sharpshooting execution from behind the arc as Eli Beard connected twice from distance to make it 34-14 with 4:06 to play.
After watching Drexel’s lead jump to as many as 22 after Panov’s fourth triple of the frame, Northeastern’s Loughnane jumped on the 3-point shooting with a trey of his own with 37 seconds remaining. The Dragons maintained a 39-22 lead at the break after sinking eight of their 12 attempts from deep in the opening stanza.
The momentum stayed in the Dragons’ favor throughout the first 10 minutes of the second half as the fifth seed countered the Huskies to watch their advantage grow to as many as 21. A Koelsch finish at the rim sparked a 12-2 run before Abreu closed it out with a triple in transition to bring Northeastern’s deficit back down to single digits, 59-50, with 6:46 to play.
The Huskies continued to surge as Abreu finished at the rim and Loughnane connected from distance to make it a six-point game, 61-55, at the 4:16 mark. Northeastern pulled to within four down the stretch, but Drexel went on to sink 10 free throws in the final minute of action to claim the seven-point win.
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