TOWSON, Md. - One bright spot in the Tigers' 65-53 home loss to George Mason on Saturday night was the play of sophomore Marcus Damas.

The native of Bay Shore, N.Y. was the game's leading scorer with a career-high 25 points, eclipsing his previous high of 18 points against Oregon State.

Damas came off a rough game against UMass on the road, shooting just one-of-nine from the field while scoring three points and grabbing six rebounds.

In the preseason, Coach Pat Skerry mentioned that the 6-7, 200-pounder from Westchester Community College had some talent but needed to work on skills.

"He has to get better with his skill," said Skerry. "He's very long and has to play lower. He has to understand shot selection. He plays extremely hard.

"Marcus has the ability to be an excellent offensive rebounder because he's athletic and tough," Skerry added. "We have to get him disciplined defensively and he has all the tools to be very good defensively. He's worked hard at his shot. He's a gym rat."

That was early October and in less than two months, Damas has become a more-than-competent three-point shooter who has made 9-of-20 three-point shots (45%) while leading the team in scoring (12.4 points per game) and ranking second by averaging 6.4 rebounds per game.

According to Damas, he's been working in the gym "at night and I shoot in the morning."

Damas was signed in the late signing period by Skerry, who had just arrived.

"(Former Towson head) coach (Pat) Kennedy recruited me but I had a very other schools looking at me," said Damas. "Then, Coach Skerry came in and got the job and he heard about me and knew my AAU coach. His energy matched my energy."

Damas was lightly recruited coming out of Bay Shore High School and wound up at Westchester C.C. He played one year and earned second-team All Mid-Hudson Conference honors while averaging 14 points and 9 rebounds per game.

While Damas is becoming better at creating his own shot, Skerry is also starting to use him to help freshmen guards Deon Jones and Kris Walden against pressure defense because of his ability to handle the ball.

Damas knows this team is young and there are signs the Tigers are getting better, especially after the loss against George Mason where they committed just 13 turnovers, which is nine under their seasonal average of 22.1.

"We just have to keep doing what we're doing," said Damas. "Keep maturing. I tell Kris and Deon Jones and other freshmen (and I'm basically a freshman), that after December comes, we're not freshmen anymore. We're not newcomers anymore."

Damas is also working on his defense, which can be a major challenge for a junior college transfer, since defense is not always a priority.

"When I first came here, I had no (defensive) principles at all," said Damas. "If you came to practice (early in preseason), you would see that Coach Skerry was on me at first. I'm learning."

When watching the men's basketball team this season, keep track of Damas and true freshmen Walden, Jones and Jervon Pressley as they go through the ups-and-downs of the 2011-12 season.