It has been an up and down season for the Patriots in the 2019 campaign, but with just four games remaining, it is truly do-or-die time. George Mason (13-12, 5-7) travels to Richmond (7-18, 4-8) tonight, in a game that will do a long way in deciding Mason’s A-10 Tournament seeding.
The Patriots enter having lost three of their last five games, and after George Washington’s victory over UMass and Duquesne’s victory over Saint Joseph’s last night, George Mason finds themselves in 9th place:
Updated #A10WBB Standings:
12-1 VCU
10-3 Fordham
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9-4 Dayton
9-4 Davidson
8-5 Saint Louis
8-5 Duquesne
6-7 Saint Joseph's
6-7 George Washington
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5-7 George Mason
5-8 UMass
4-8 Richmond
4-8 St. Bonaventure
2-10 Rhode Island
1-12 La Salle— Daniel Frank (@n1a2v3y4) February 21, 2019
For all your questions about tie-breaking, look no further!
As for tonight’s game, to be perfectly honest, I don’t know how to preview it. I don’t know which George Mason team is going to show up. To be successful, Nicole Cardaño-Hillary needs to score in double-figures. Camarie Gatling needs to stay out of foul trouble. It’d be awesome if Sarah Kaminski could hit some threes and if Jacy Bolton could record another double-double.
George Mason is a team that when they are hitting shots and defending well, can complete with just about anyone in the Atlantic 10. But when things start to break down, they show their weaknesses.
The Spiders enter having lost three of their last four games, falling at the hands of Dayton, VCU and Saint Louis with their only win during that span coming against St. Bonaventure. This is a Richmond team that has just 7 wins on the season, four of which have come in conference play. Along with their win over the Bonnies, their other A-10 wins have come against Saint Joseph’s, La Salle and UMass, which came in consecutive fashion in late-January and early-February.
This is frankly, a winable game for George Mason. With four games left on the calendar, it’s realistic to see the Patriots going 3-1 in these final four games. Sunday against Dayton is going to be tough. Saint Joseph’s is a 100% MUST-WIN. La Salle is a team Mason has already beat by 17 points just seven days ago.
Richmond tonight is a huge game. A win bumps UMass down to 9th, and would see the Patriots just to 7th, bunny-hopping GW. With a loss tonight, Mason would fall to 5-8, a full-game behind Saint Joseph’s and George Washington. Not impossible to crawl out of that hole technically, but extremely difficult. George Mason controls their own destiny. They need to take care of business tonight.
Tipoff from the Robins Center is 7;00, and the game will be broadcast on ESPN+. Time to get a W.
