TOWSON, Md. - Although Drexel University (9-9, 4-2) was held without a basket for the final 7:20, the Dragons led from the opening tip and held off several Tiger (3-12, 0-6) comebacks to hand them a 52-49 loss in a defensive struggle at the Towson Center on Wednesday night.

Led by sophomore forward Samme Givens, who posted his second "double double" of the season with 10 points and 16 rebounds, the Dragons opened up a 25-13 lead with 6:29 left in the first half. The Dragons, who held Towson to 25% shooting in the first half, owned a 30-23 advantage at intermission.

After the Tigers used a 10-4 spurt to pull within 36-33 on a three-point basket by senior Josh Thornton with 16:08 remaining, junior guard Gerald Colds ignited a 9-0 spurt with an old-fashioned three-point play. When Colds nailed a jumper in the lane with 12:29 remaining, the Dragons owned a 45-33 advantage.

With 7:20 left in the game, a layup by senior forward Evan Neisler gave the Dragons a 48-41 advantage. It was the Dragons' last basket of the game as the Tigers turned up the defensive pressure.

With 5:42 left, a jumper by junior Jarrel Smith pulled the Tigers to within 48-43. When Colds made one of two free throws some 20 seconds later, the Dragons owned a 49-43 edge.

Givens made one of two free throws with 4:44 remaining to give Drexel a 50-43 lead before Smith's rebound jumper in the lane cut the lead to 50-45.

Sophomore guard Troy Franklin cut the Tigers' deficit to 50-47 when he stole the ball from Jamie Harris and raced upcourt for a breakaway layup with 2:31 remaining.

Trailing by three points with less than two minutes remaining, the Tigers had a great opportunity to tie the game after a blocked shot by senior Calvin Lee.  

Over the next minute, the Tigers took four shots in an attempt to tie the game and none of them fell. With 54 seconds left, Givens rebounded a miss by Smith and the Dragons had the ball back.

With 35 seconds remaining, Harris was fouled. He hit both free throws to give the Dragons a 52-47 advantage. The Tigers cut into the lead on a basket by Smith with four seconds remaining.

Trailing by 52-49, the Tigers fouled Colds immediately. When he missed his one-and-one opportunity, Lee rebounded but his desperation shot was well off the mark.

"This is the seventh game that came down to the next-to-last possession," said Towson Coach Pat Kennedy. "We didn't win any of them. We held this team to 52 points so it was a better job defensively.

"Drexel really slowed us down offensively," he added. "They really did a great job on defense."

The Tigers, who have now lost seven games in a row, were held to a seasonal low 30.9% shooting from the floor. They converted only one of ten shots from three-point range and made 14 of 25 free throw attempts.

Lee and Smith led the Tigers with 11 points each. Smith also had a team high nine rebounds while Lee grabbed eight rebounds. Towson outrebounded Drexel by a 43-40 margin and blocked seven shots.

The Dragons, who missed all ten three-point field goal attempts, shot 36.2% from the floor. The Dragons went 10-for-18 from the foul line.

Givens, who made four-of-nine shots from the floor, and Colds led the Dragons with ten points each. Givens, who matched his career high with 16 rebounds, also blocked three shots.

With the victory, Drexel has won three of its last four games. The victory also enabled the Dragons to avenge a 73-62 loss to Towson in the first round of the 2009 CAA Tournament.

The Tigers return to action on Saturday afternoon when they visit the University of Delaware for a 12 noon game.