American University and George Mason will kick off their conference openers this week and both will go on the road to face their conference’s preseason favorite. The Eagles will make the trip to Bucknell on Friday while the Patriots will square off against Rhode Island on Saturday.
Before the season, the thought was Bucknell (6-7) could go undefeated in Patriot League play. The Bison solidified that with their out of conference performance with wins over Richmond and LaSalle. They have the best of both worlds in seniors Nana Foulland and Zach Thomas. Foulland represents the old school dominating inside force. He’s averaging 16.9 points and 5.9 rebounds a game. Beyond the numbers it’s how he’s getting them. He constantly occupies the post and can operate off a myriad of solid low post moves. He’s not going to stretch you all that much nor is he a guy who simply gets points on stick backs. He’s scored in double digits each game this season and that includes facing heavyweights like Arkansas, North Carolina, and Maryland.
Perhaps his most impressive showing was a 23 point, 14 rebound performance against VCU’s Justin Tillman. In the close loss to VCU, time and time again, Foulland was able to maneuver for big baskets against the athletic Tillman. He followed up that performance with a two game stretch against Richmond and LaSalle where he scored a combined 43 points (including a career high 30) and grabbed 14 rebounds as the Bison defeated both Atlantic 10 members.
The 6′ 7″ Thomas is more of what we see in today’s college basketball. The ability to work you inside and out forcing the opponent’s big man to cover him throughout the front court. He’s already been named Patriot League Player of the Week four times this season. His performance against Richmond typified senior leadership. With the Bison down 14 points in the second half, Thomas scored 20 points in the second half, including 10 straight at one point, to lead the Bison to a come from behind road win versus the Spiders. He’s averaging career highs in points per game, rebounds, free throws, 3 pointers made per game, shooting percentage and field goals made per game.
The twosome of Thomas and Foulland will be a lot for American to handle especially with Mark Gasperini still on the shelf. This puts more emphasis on Eagles point guard, Sa’eed Nelson, to pressure his counterpart, Stephen Brown. Ball pressure can take away angles the guard’s ability to get the ball cleanly to his teammate. Along with that Nelson will have to have a massive impact on offense. His ability to get in the lane will always be there but he also most knock down the three point shot. Even though Nelson’s overall field goal percentage is down from last season, his 3 point percentage has improved from 21% to 28%. The increase in turnovers also will be of concern to Coach Mike Brennan. Nelson’s turnovers has increased from 2.9 per game last season to 4.5 this season.
George Mason will head to Rhode Island coming off an 86-79 comeback victory over Morgan State. With the Bears having their star, Tiwian Kendley (31 points), back, the Patriots trailed most of the game. But the wore down the Bears by driving the ball into the lane and playing suffocating defense in the second half. “we came up with enough stops in the second half holding them down to 39%” said Coach Dave Paulsen. The defense allowed the offense to catch up in the second half. Justin Kier scored 22 points including the layup that tied the game at 69. Prior to the win, George Mason had lost two in a row, both at home, to Georgia Southern and Penn State.
Rhode Island (8-3) started off the season ranked and currently is in the “others receiving votes” category. The Rams have won three in a row including a 20 point win over Florida Gulf Coast in their last outing. After missing six games, E.C. Matthews has returned from a wrist injury. During the six game stretch the Rams went 4-2 with losses to UVA and Alabama. Matthews was in the starting lineup for the Florida Gulf Coast game and responded with a 2o point performance. Senior guard Jared Terrell is also a big key for Rhode Island. Terrell is averaging 17.8 points a game and has shouldered much of the burden with Matthews out. A healthy Rhode Island is a challenge to any team in the country.
For George Mason to have success on Saturday, it will start on the defensive end. The Patriots perimeter defense will have to be able to force someone besides Terrell, Matthews and Stanford Robinson to make plays. On offense they will need Kier and freshman Gonnar Mar to have big games. The Rams will try to take away Otis Livingston II with pressure and get the ball out of his hands. That leaves others to make plays. Kier most stay aggressive and Mar should have opportunities to score both inside and outside. If they are successful, the Patriots will see 3 point openings, the team’s second leading scorer, Jaire Grayer (14.1 points, 8 rebounds/game). If Kier and Mar struggle, Rhode Island can focus solely on Livingston II and Grayer and that could result in a blowout.
Catch all of your DMV sports news on Twitter at @CapDomeSports & @mtcwithmook
