Previewing Drexel...

The Patriots hit the road for their first CAA game this weekend at Drexel. The Dragon's are coming off a dreadful CAA campaign last season and return only two starters this season. It's difficult to assess them so far this year because they have only played three games, with their one loss being an 83-51 drubbing from Georgetown. With Tramayne Hawthorne returning, the team looks to be more of a perimeter shooting squad, but through the first three games Hawthorne is only 6 for 29 from the three-point line. Their shooting from the field has not been much better (.305) and they been averaging under 60 points a contest thus far. They start two guards who are under 6-feet tall, could that be an advantage for the Patriots or a window for them to launch up more bricks early in the game? While the Dragon's front court presence basically disappeared with the graduation of Frank Elegar, they still have a size advantage there and have been rebounding well. With that in mind, Monroe and Birdsong have been the most consistent Patriots to date and Ryan Pearson seems to be coming into his own. Those three could very well be the difference in this game as John Vaughan and Dre Smith continue to struggle on the road. Drexel doesn't have any Seth Currys in their lineup but they are well coached and Mason will have to limit the turnovers. Giving the ball up like we saw at Liberty is basically the only way Mason could let this game slip away. An up-tempo game could favor the Patriots as they have much more scoring power then the Dragons.