Dec. 30, 2006
Box Score
The George Mason men's basketball team finished off the 2006 calendar year the way it started it - with a win in a tight game decided in the final moments. Saturday's victory, Mason's first appearance at the Patriot Center in more than a month, had a bit of revenge mixed in as well, as Mason downed Mississippi State 63-59 in front of 7,846 fans. The Patriots had lost to the Bulldogs 63-61 exactly one year earlier in Starkville, Miss.
Mason (6-5) got a game-high 22 points from Will Thomas who added nine rebounds and a season-high three blocks. Folarin Campbell added 13 points, all in the second half, and Dre Smith had 11 points on 5 of 10 shooting. Mississippi State's Jamont Gordon, who entered the game averaging 16.0 points, 7.7 rebounds and 5.0 assists, was held to a season-low eight points on 3 of 13 shooting. He did have nine points and four assists. Charles Rhodes had 14 points and Barry Stewart added 11 while Jarvis Varnado had four of Mississippi State's nine blocks.
Like last year's affair, which had 10 ties and five lead changes, Saturday's game was very much a back-and-forth affair. There were seven ties and eight lead changes with the Bulldogs (9-3) leading by as many as seven in the first half and Mason by as many as six in the second half. But neither team could pull away from the other, even at the closing seconds.
Rhodes tipped the ball in off a missed 3-pointer by Jamont Gordon to give Mississippi State the lead with 1:24 to play. In 2005, Mason lost on a tip-in of a missed 3-pointer that came with 38 seconds to play. This year, the Patriots had plenty of time left to work with. With 1:00 to go, Thomas sank a pair of free throws, and after Gordon and Rhodes missed shots in the paint, Mason got the rebound and Campbell sank a pair of free throws for a 62-59 lead. The Bulldogs did not get a shot off, instead committing a turnover, and Campbell sank a final free throw to ice the game.
Mason had opened the contest with a 5-0 run but the Bulldogs responded with a 16-4 run to take a seven-point lead. Mason had a 16-4 run of their own to retake the lead and go ahead 25-20. A Jordan Carter 3-pointer and a Dre Smith fastbreak layup were critical points in that stretch. But Mississippi State refused to back down as the pulled to within two before the break on a Rhodes dunk and jumper in the paint.
The Patriots opened the second half with a 7-3 run to go up by six, but Mississippi State kept closing to within a basket. The Bulldogs finally tied the score at 48-48 on a Stewart 3-pointer, and they took the lead on a Varnado layup. Those baskets were part of a 9-2 run that put Mason in a 54-50 hole. Campbell replied with a 3-pointer to make it a one-point game and it was once again tied after Louis Birdsong hit a free throw. The game stayed close from then on, setting up Mason's 5-0 run to end the game. The Bulldogs were held to just one field goal in the final 5:51.
The Patriots finished the game shooting .434 from the field, well above the 35 percent that Mississippi State's opponents had shot on the season. Mason, meanwhile, held the Bulldogs to a .364 shooting percentage.
The Patriots have alternated wins and losses throughout the season. They will be looking for their first two-game winning streak of the year on Wednesday, Jan. 3, when they host William & Mary at 7 p.m.
