Waking Up

The win at Knott Arena last night was certainly a quality one for the Mount. Unfortunately, only 700 or so people were there to see it. A couple of reasons for that: the students are already at home on Christmas break, it is the holiday season and it seems there is something on everyone's calendar each and every night, this team stil hasn't caught on as being a contender with the locals, and it was a Tuesday night where there were a lot of local high school games.

Probably didn't give Sam Atupem enough credit last night. The junior had one of his best games of the year. Big factor was the fact that he was never in foul trouble. He played well all night, was the only Mount big who could match up with the big people for Winthrop. But most importantly he made some big plays down the stretch. Not only did he have the bucket off the lob late, but he had a key assist to Markus Mitchell as well.

Jeremy Goode didn't have the best of nights. But its nice to know the Mount can win without him being sensational. He still stuffed the stat sheet, 11 points, 6 assists, 4 rebounds, 3 steals. But his turnover total was too high. Chris Gaynor is one of the only guards who bothered him this year, and the Winthop help defense was athletic enough to cause some problems.

Lafayette will pose problems as well. The Leopards are a good team playing better at the moment. Sort of like the Mount. They are 7-3 on the season, but only 1-2 against NEC competition. However, they did thump Central Connecticut near the end of November. They play Towson tonight before arriving at the Mount during the middle of a stretch where they play 8 straight games on the road. The Leopards have beaten the Mount two straight years.