Patriots finish road trip at short-handed Towson

After it seemed like road games would kill Mason's chances of being atop the CAA, it very may be the reason they stay there by the season's end. A win tomorrow at Towson would be a very nice end to a three game road trip and extend their winning streak to five. The Towson Tigers are coming off their worst loss in three years and have been playing short-handed lately with guys injured, sitting out due to NCAA transfer rules, or other issues. They only dressed four reserve players on Wednesday night and had a walk-on starting at point guard for the injured Brian Morris. Morris may be available Saturday though. The Patriots could use their bench and fast tempo to wear down the Tigers in this one. I don't expect Mason to shoot the ball as well as they did against Hofstra but another good showing from Cam Long and Andre Cornelius would be expected. I have liked how the guards have been doing a good job getting to the free-throw line and making opposing teams pay, especially late in the 2nd half. I would almost expect to see more driving to the lane and less three-pointer attempts in this one but since it's a road game for the Patriots I shouldn't try to predict anything.

Looking ahead the Patriots have a very favorable schedule. After Saturday at Towson, the Patriots have Delaware and JMU at home and then Georgia State and Drexel on the road. They don't have to face either William & Mary or VCU on the road and don't play Northeastern again til their final game of the regular season on February 27. This will definitely give the Patriots a good chance to have a decent seed heading into the CAA tournament in March.