Showdown in Fairfax

The VCU Rams come to town tomorrow night in what could possibly be the biggest game of the season for the Patriots. The game could end deciding who ends up first in the standings, as the Patriots are two games behind the Rams for first place. Mason's inconsistency this season has been an issue but the lone constant has been winning in Fairfax. The Patriots face their toughest opponents to come to the Patriot Center this season since the Dayton Flyers. The Rams are a roll lately and slowly separating themselves from the pack in the CAA. A key stat to that could doom the Patriots is that the Rams are leading the nation in three-point FG percentage defense. Considering there has been way too many times this season that Mason has lived off the three-point shot, they could find themselves in serious trouble if they don't establish the inside game. Will Thomas will have a hard time tomorrow night, he's never been able to go off against the Rams. Wil Fameni was able to hold Thomas to only 10 points and 4 rebounds in last season's CAA championship. Head coach Anthony Grant will have his boys prepared and I have no doubt that stopping Thomas is going to be the focus of the defense. This puts big pressure on the guards, they will have to make outside shots and get to the foul line, something they aren't great at. Speaking of getting to the foul line, Vlad needs to do that more, he rarely misses. But when you think of the Ram's you think of Eric Maynor (pictured above and flipping you off with teammate Jamal Shuler), the golden savior in last year's NCAA tournament game against Duke. He is clutch and difficult to contain. He won't drop 30 points on you like Hofstra's Agudio but he will make players around him better. He's a solid floor general and agruably one of the best pure point guards in the country, and along with every other Mason fan, I hate him. And speaking of Shuler, (pictured to the right gettin' his Goose on) he has been a large part of VCU's success thus far averaging 16 points a game. I am not even going to try to predict the outcome for this game because usually when I write something like that it dooms the Patriots but now this, it will be an exciting game, guaranteed.