GAME NOTES: First-round action of the Colonial Athletic Association Tournament concludes Friday night with a matchup pitting the 10th-seeded College of Charleston Cougars against the seventh-seeded Drexel Dragons at Royal Farms Arena.

The winner of this clash will advance to Saturday's quarterfinal round to take on second-seeded UNC-Wilmington.

Charleston heads into the postseason on a three-game losing streak, and has dropped six of its last seven games overall. The Cougars are coming off a season-ending defeat against Northeastern, 65-56, which dropped the team to just 3-15 against conference competition.

Drexel finished off its regular-season slate by ending a four-game losing streak. The Dragons took down top-seeded William & Mary, 80-66, on the road to improve to 11-18 overall with a 9-9 conference mark.

After two wins for Drexel against College of Charleston during the regular season, the all-time series between the programs in knotted up at three games apiece. The latest meeting between these two programs came early on in February, when Drexel took a 59-45 decision in Charleston.

Northeastern technically shot the ball more efficiently against College of Charleston on Saturday, connecting on 51.3 percent of its attempts from the floor in the game while the Cougars made 43.5 percent of their tries. But both teams each made 20 field goals, although it was a 22-of-26 mark from the free- throw line that allowed Northeastern to pull ahead and win the game. Joe Chealey netted a team-best 20 points to lead Charleston in the loss, while Canyon Barry chipped in with 14 points on 5-of-15 shooting from the floor. Adjehi Baru pulled down a team-best eight rebounds for the Cougars.

Barry and Chealey have both performed well on the offensive end of the floor for Charleston this season, as each nets a team-leading 12.4 ppg. Chealey tops the squad with 105 assists on the season, while Barry leads with 35 steals. Baru owns a team-high 6.4 rpg mark, and is connecting on 48.4 percent of his shots from the field. Barry and Chealey are the only two players averaging a scoring figure in double digits for the Cougars, as Charleston enters the postseason recording a mere 58.9 ppg (last in the CAA) on 40.6 percent shooting. The Cougars allow 64.6 ppg to opponents as well. 8 Drexel turned the burners on offensively to take down William & Mary over the weekend. The Dragons connected on 49 percent of their shots from the field in the win, making a healthy 11-of-21 from 3-point range and added a 21-of-26 mark from the free-throw line to down the host Tribe. Freddie Wilson tallied 24 points to lead the team, making 6-of-9 from 3-point distance with four assists in the win. Tavon Allen poured in 22 points and grabbed six rebounds, and Rodney Williams netted 18 points with nine boards to help the Dragons overtake William & Mary. Drexel owned a lead as great as 17 points just over five minutes into the second half.

Injuries were a major factor for Drexel this season, as the team lost role player Major Canady early on due to right ankle surgery, and then at the end of February the Dragons lost leading scorer Damion Lee (21.4 ppg) to a broken right hand. That leaves Allen (11.1 ppg) as the only double-digit scorer on the team entering the tournament. Williams (8.3 ppg) adds in a team-best 7.0 rpg to his resume, and Wilson (4.9 ppg) has been asked to step up in Lee's absence. The Dragons are netting just 60.0 ppg this season on 39.1 percent shooting, and are giving up 64.6 ppg to opponents in the same frame.

Drexel should be riding a wave of momentum heading into the tournament after its huge win over William & Mary which ended the team's slide. College of Charleston hasn't been anything spectacular, and possesses the worst offense in the league, which Drexel should take advantage of.