Friday, December 04, 2009

Time to get back on Track

Who plays?: Mt. St. Mary's (3-4, 0-1) continues its road trip with another NEC game against St. Francis PA (2-5, 1-0).


What's at stake?: The Mount has championship aspirations. They had the same aspirations a season ago. The Mount found that digging out of a two-game hole was a large problem a season ago. They don't want to repeat that this year. So Saturday is a must-win situation. St. Francis snapped a five-game win losing with a win over Wagner on Thursday and wants to keep its strong start to the season going.
When is tipoff?: Saturday at 7:00.

Where is the game?: On the campus  of St. Francis at the DeGol Arena. Radio coverage available on the Mount Radio Network, 1450AM WTHU.

The Analysis: The Red Flash have seven freshman on the roster, including Gettysburg's Ron Johnson. So, there is a lot new in Loretto this season. One thing that isn't new is leading scorer Devin Sweetney, who averages around 17 points a game. The Mount needs to get its offense rolling. The Mounties have scored 70 points in just two of their seven games this season.
Advantages for Mt. St. Mary's: The loss to Robert Morris needs to serve as motivation for the Mount. The goals for this team are still in tact, but it must get together, share the basketball and work toward the common goal. This group has always battled back at the darkest of times and I'm expecting them to do the same right now.

Advantages for St. Francis (PA): It is Alumni Day at Robert Morris and the Red Flash should enter with plenty of confidence after the big win in the conference opener. A good crowd at DeGol Arena should help them out. Factor into all of that, that they catch the Mount at a vulnerable time and there is the possibility that they could pull the upset.
What to expect?: At this point, I'm really not sure. I do expect that the Mount's defensive effort will be top notch on Saturday. The Mount could fix some of the problems with some made jump shots early in the game. Jean Cajou didn't make a field goal on Thursday, so watch how he starts early. The Mount has other offensive weapons in Kelly Beidler and Shawn Atupem. Jeremy Goode needs to create offense for himself and his teammates. The Mount will need to find a way to take Devin Sweetney out of play for the Red Flash. The Mount will want to try to take the youthful Flash out of the game early so that their confidence doesn't continue to build. I think the Mount wins this one with a solid defensive effort 66-51.

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