CBI Championship Series Preview: Santa Clara Looks to Take Series in Game 2

Dec 30, 2011; Santa Clara, CA, USA; Santa Clara Broncos guard Kevin Foster (21) dribbles the ball during the second half against the Wagner Seahawks at Leavey Center. Wagner Seahawks defeated Santa Clara Broncos 64-62 at the buzzer. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports

After an impressive victory in game one, the Broncos look to capture the series in game two. However, they will have to travel across the entire country to Fairfax, Virginia do so.

In case you missed it, Santa Clara defeated George Mason by a score of  81-73 in game one of the CBI championship series on Monday night. The Broncos were led by Kevin Foster and Evan Roquemore who scored 28 and 20 points respectively. The Patriots were led by Jonathan Arledge and Patrick Holloway, who scored 23 and 17 points respectively. For a more in-depth analysis of this game, read a previous article that was posted (Link: https://westcoastconvo.com/2013/04/01/cbi-game-recap-santa-clara-defeats-george-mason-in-game-one/ )

For game two, the Broncos leading scorers Kevin Foster and Marc Trasolini must remain a constant force in their offense. Foster has been absolutely dynamic during the course of the CBI. The senior is averaging 29.5 points per game throughout the tournament. His ability to score with relative ease is an unprecedented asset for the Broncos. Their is not a player within the two remaining teams that can score in a multitude of ways like Foster. The closest thing to him is George Mason’s leading scorer, Sherrod Wright. However, Wright had a woeful game against the Broncos on monday night; the junior guard only scored 3 points, and did not make a shot from the field the entire game. His ineffectiveness proved detrimental to the Patriots in their loss.

The Patriots did have some things going their way on Monday  George Mason outscored Santa Clara’s bench by a score of 28-2 in game one. This was primarily led by Holloway, who had 17 points off the bench, which were primarily scored in the second half. If George Mason can continue to get this type production from their bench, as well as production from starters such as Sherrod Wright and Erik Copes, the Patriots will be awfully hard to stop offensively. However, with the way Foster, Roquemore, and Trasolini have been scoring, it’s hard to see the Broncos ever losing.

Something to watch in this one will be if George Mason will continue to apply full court pressure periodically throughout the game, as they did in game one. The Broncos backcourt did a fantastic job of breaking the pressure and finding the open guys near the basket. This resulted in a lot of open looks for the Santa Clara forwards. It will be intriguing to see if the Patriots continue to press, and if they do, how the Broncos will respond.

Prediction: George Mason

Based on the amount of travel that the Broncos have endured in the past few days, the Patriots will win based on the fatigue of Santa Clara. It was evident on Monday night that the Broncos were the superior offensive team. However, there is a very good chance that some of that offensive rhythm could be disturbed by the mass amount of travel. Except Sherrod Wright to have a much better game on Wednesday than he did on Monday.