Patriots stand strong at home

Mason took down 1st place Northeastern Saturday to remain unbeaten at home. The game was ugly to start off with both team's enduring a sloppy 1st half. The Patriot's defense was on point and held the Huskies to 34% shooting and Matt Janning to only 13 points. Neither team shot well from behind the arc as we only saw six three-pointers the entire game and we didn't see Northeastern get any open looks from long distance, which had been a problem recently for Mason. John Vaughan led Mason, getting most of his points in the 2nd half but real difference maker was Michael Morrison. Coach L referred to him as the x-factor in the post-game interview and he really looked authoritative in the front court. He left some points on the floor by missing some free-throws but the point was he was getting to the line and showing aggression. As a whole the free-throw shooting was pretty terrible, which isn't a great thing to see with the tournament looming. Cam Long had a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds and Darryl Monroe finished with 10. In the first half it looked like Mason was trying to get Monroe involved and went to him often. I think most of us would have to agree that we would much rather see that then watch Dre Smith go 0-for-5 from long range again. Not only did Smith have poor long range shooting he was 1-8 from the field. His inconsistency and sometimes wild shooting is getting tiresome. His efforts on the defensive end justify his minutes but it holds back the offense so much when he's misfiring. Mason ran a lineup yesterday that features Monroe, Birdsong and Pearson which is something I would like to see more of. Add Morrison into that mix often and I think the offense would be a lot more difficult for any CAA to defend. I don't know what's more puzzling about this Mason squad; the fact that they play so poorly on the road or the fact that they follow up those road losses with such impressive games at home?

pictures from CAAZone.com