After their two-game homestand, George Mason (11-4, 0-2) will travel to Philadelphia to play La Salle (10-5, 1-2) as a part of a two-game road trip.
This contest marks the 7th time these two programs have faced off, with Mason holding a 4-2 series lead. In a must-win game for Mason, they already have the odds stacked against them, the Explorers hold a 2-1 lead in the city of brotherly love.
If Mason still wants to be taken seriously (and that’s assuming they were ever thought to be a serious contender in the first place) they have to win this game and the next. To lose these two games, puts this program on track for a failure of a season, in my opinion, most likely cementing them into their worst A-10 Conference finish.
I was hesitant at the beginning of the season, I knew that due to the weakness of their schedule, Mason would be ill-equipped to handle A-10 play. I always thought about last year’s Fordham team that went 9-5 in non-conference play and then finished 3-15 in A-10 play. That would be disastrous for this team.
Breaking Down La Salle
Notable Players:
Senior Isiah Deas dropped 25 points in the Explorers’ most recent loss to UMass, he finished going 8-18 from the field, 7-11 from the charity stripe, while making two three-pointers and adding a season-high nine rebounds.
Junior David Beatty added 14 points on 6-of-13 shooting and redshirt-junior Scott Spencer chipped in nine points and two steals.
Ed Croswell is averaging 9.6 ppg and 7.2 rebounds per game. Mason will need to box-out Croswell to stay ahead in the rebound game.
Breaking Down Mason
This’ll be a short one today, I need some positives from this game to give the motivation to write nice things about this team. (As much as it seems like it, it’s not all that fun covering a team that’s… well, not good).
The Patriots need to get back on track with this game.
No more excuses.
The mantra of “Go 1-0 today” may have worked for the World Champion Washington Nationals, but it does not seem to be working for the Patriots. Like Ron brought up in the post-game video, we’re not hearing this mantra anymore.
Mason played decently in the absence of Kier, even playing well for a quarter against Maryland. Now in his return, Kier is not playing up to expectations.
Our offense can not match up to a zone and can no longer maintain leads. If the Patriots can not win off a 15 point lead, I do not see Mason making it past the Thursday of the A-10 Tournament.
Win.
Please win.
Please.
