By Ed Morrone

Even as the Pride held off Drexel in last Saturday’s regular season finale to extend its home winning streak to 20 consecutive games, the thoughts of the 5,047 in attendance at Hofstra Arena were on Loren Stokes’ left leg.The Pride locked up the No. 3 seed and a first round bye in this weekend’s CAA Tournament in Richmond, Va., but elation soon turned to panic when Stokes went down with a sprained left ankle with 9:02 to play and did not return. In his absence, Drexel made a late 10-0 run and had a chance to win the game on the final possession. Thus, those who were confident about the team’s chances in Richmond quickly morphed into naysayers, stating the Pride would have no chance without Stokes.Luckily for fans and the team, they won’t have to find out. Stokes has been receiving treatment for his ankle since Monday and while he has yet to practice, his rehabilitation is going much better than expected and he said he expects to play on Saturday night, when the Pride will meet the winner of the Virginia Commonwealth-William & Mary game.”It’s been going well so far,” Stokes said. “The swelling has gone down a lot and it feels a lot better than it did the other day.”It remains to be seen how effective Stokes can be on the court, but the Pride will take him in whatever capacity it can get. As the team’s leading scorer and floor general, the Pride will need Stokes to lead it into a very hostile environment, should Richmond- based VCU defeat the Tribe as expected.Unfortunately for the Pride, Stokes’ injury isn’t the only obstacle the team will have to overcome this weekend. To win the conference championship and advance to the NCAA Tournament, the team is going to have to win three games in three days, all of which may take place against schools located in Virginia that will have the home crowd on its side. It all starts with VCU, who handed the Pride its most lopsided loss of the season back on Dec. 7, an 87-64 shellacking down in Richmond. If the team wants to avoid a case of déjà vu, the players will need to come out with ice water in their veins, execute the game plan and ignore the rowdy Rams fans.”We’ve had great road wins before, winning at ODU, it doesn’t get much tougher than that,” head coach Tom Pecora said. “If you’re a good enough team, you find a way to win. I think we’re tough enough to handle it.”To fulfill its goal of getting to the NCAA Tournament, the Pride wants to win the tournament, but will still have a chance to get in even if can’t capture the title. With last week’s win over then No. 25 George Mason, paired with a win over VCU and another win over Mason (who the Pride will most likely see in the semifinals should it defeat the Rams), the Pride’s case should be solid to gain an at large bid into the Big Dance come Selection Sunday. Still, the team’s ambitions remain the same.”We want to win the CAA’s,” senior center Adrian Uter said. “We don’t want it to have to come down to getting an at large.”So make no mistake, this time around the Pride is pushing all its chips into the center of the table, as opposed to last year, when it was relatively content with settling on an NIT berth. It will be a rough road for sure, but one the team will be ready for should Stokes be behind the wheel come Saturday night at 8:30.”I’d say yeah, I’m going to go out there and play,” Stokes said. “In this sport you have to play with injuries, so I’m going to give it my all and play [this weekend].”

(Chronicle Staff Photo)