PHILADELPHIA, PA–On Sunday afternoon, I made good on a promise to come down to Center City, Philadelphia, and see Metuchen’s Marqus Blakely and his Vermont Catamounts take on the Toledo Rockets in the final day of the Philadelphia Subregional in the 2009 Legends Classic. It was the first time that Drexel University held a regular season tournament, and it was also the first time in over 20 years that GMC Hoops set foot at Drexel.
There was some hesitation on my part to take the trip. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to go. I wanted to see Blakely play, and pay a visit to a school that I spent time at for a couple semesters over two decades ago. However, with all the football and other college games that I’ve been seeing recently, I didn’t get a chance to really prepare for the trip like I wanted to. I didn’t even know if I was going to be able to get a ticket. However, on Sunday morning, I found out that there were tickets still available for the event, which was taking place at Drexel’s Daskalaskis Athletic Center on 33rd and Market Streets in Center City.
So, I decided to go. I didn’t leave the house until after 10:30 AM. My hesitation ended up costing me seeing much of the first half. I didn’t arrive at the game until a few minutes to go in the period. At that point, the game was already well in hand with Drexel leading by double digits. All things considered though, it worked out well. I managed to take Route 18 to Route 27 South, and then take that to Somerset County Road 518. I followed that through Rocky Hill, and then crossed Route 206 into Mercer County. From there, I drove through Pennington and Hopewell before taking the exit on to Interstate 95 South.
From there, I traveled south to Interstate 676 West, and then to 76 East before arriving at Exit 345, or the 30th Street/University City exit. I was able to park, and get into the game before 12:45 PM. It was great to come down not only to see Blakely play at the Division I college level, but also take a look around a place that I hadn’t seen in almost 21 years. I spent two semesters at Drexel University in their Computer Science program. The trip brought back a lot of memories for me. Seeing that familiar Philadelphia skyline was something. After the game, I took a walk back to where my old dorm was (Van Rensselaer Hall), and it was still there.
There were other buildings that I could remember, and some others that I didn’t. There were also some new ones that were built. Generally though, nothing much has changed in the Center City area of Philadelphia near Drexel. Many of the buildings are still the same. Some new ones have been added to the skyline, but it still looks much the same. As for the game, Marqus Blakely was fun to watch. He was poised and relaxed. He was simply very comfortable on the floor. Whether being triple teamed, or trapped in the corner, Blakely was unflappable. The former Metuchen standout, who left the game with 5:56 remaining, and Vermont leading 69-41, played 32 of the 40 minutes, scored 15 points, handed out 7 assists, grabbed 5 rebounds, blocked 2 shots, and swiped two steals in the 82-49 victory. See the article on the game as well as the box score courtesy of Vermont Athletics.
Blakely scored only six points in the second half, but four of those points came off two handed jams while he almost had an alleyoop dunk with 15:47 to play. The Vermont senior, who is also the two time Player of the Year in the America East Conference, was fouled on the play, and netted two free throws. Vermont and Drexel are old rivals from when both teams were not only in the America East Conference, but also the old East Coast Conference, which was in existence when I was at Drexel in 1988-89.
The ECC had not only Drexel and Vermont in the conference at the time, but also had the likes of Delaware, Rider, and Central Connecticut State. The Catamounts and the Dragons played for the 28th time on Friday with Drexel winning 74-61. DU leads the all time series 21-7. Sunday’s game against Toledo was only the second time that the two schools met with the Rockets winning the first ever matchup back in the 1983-84 season. I’m really glad that I went. I was a great trip.