Jan. 11, 2007

Box Score

Towson, Md. - The George Mason men's basketball team won back-to-back games for the first time since advancing to the 2006 NCAA Final Four as the Patriots extended a 14-year winning streak over Towson, beating the Tigers 73-44 in Colonial Athletic Association action on Thursday night. The last time Mason lost to Towson was Jan. 6, 1993, a span of 10 games.

For what felt like the first time all year, Mason (8-7, 2-3) had its perimeter game working. Mason shot nearly 50 percent from 3-point range (9 of 19) and Folarin Campbell was particularly deadly, tying a career high with four 3-pointers on 4 of 7 shooting. Jordan Carter finished the game 4 of 4 from the field and set new career highs with eight assists and seven rebounds. In his previous outing, he set a career high with 11 points and he had nine points on Thursday.

As a team, Mason had 26 assists, the sixth-highest total in school history.

Mason entered the game concerned with slowing down Gary Neal, who entered the week fifth in the nation in scoring at 24.6 points per game. But Campbell was clearly the star on Thursday, as the junior scored 18 points on 7 of 12 shooting while handing out a season-high nine assists. Will Thomas finished with 16 points and six rebounds in a complimentary role. Neal was held to 18 points on 7 of 20 shooting.

After opening Monday's game with abysmal shooting, the Patriots came out strong on Thursday, making 6 of their first 13 shots, jumping out to a six-point lead, 15-9. Six players scored in that stretch while Towson's scoring was coming from Dennard Abraham who scored six of the Tigers' first 11 points. Mason cooled off over the next few minutes and Towson heated up and the Patriot's lead was trimmed to two, 15-13.

But that's when Mason's defense took over. Carter had a steal and layup and after a Dre Smith deflection gave Mason the ball, Thomas scored on an assist from Campbell. Two possessions later, Campbell drove the lane to give Mason a 21-13 lead. After Gary Neal hit a pull-up bank shot, Dre Smith and Campbell hit back-to-back 3-pointers to put the Patriots ahead by 12 with 4:54 to go in the half. The lead would have stayed 12 but Campbell hit a jumper with a foot on the 3-point line with three seconds to go to make it a 33-19 Mason lead at the break.

The Patriots were 14 of 28 from the field in the opening stanza and had assists on 11 of their baskets. Campbell led both teams with 10 points and five assists while Carter had six points, four rebounds and four assists. Towson, meanwhile, had more turnovers, nine, than field goals, eight, and shot just 32 percent from the field. Abraham was held scoreless over the final 11:23 of the half after picking up his second foul with 7:09 to go. Neal had just four points in the opening half as three Mason defenders, Smith, Campbell and Gabe Norwood, held him to 2 of 9 shooting and no foul shots.

The second half started with a much quicker pace. Tim Crossin hit a 3-pointer for Towson and Campbell responded with a trey from the left wing at the other end. Neal then hit his first 3-pointer of the game but Campbell hit a bomb from the right wing, got a steal on the defensive end and Thomas scored inside for a 41-25 Mason lead. Out of a Towson timeout, Neal hit a jumper but Carter responded with a 3-pointer to make it a 17-point Mason edge.

Neal hit a 3-pointer to pull Towson (7-8, 2-3) to within 14, but the Tigers wouldn't get any closer. Mason went on a 22-4 run over the next 9:44 to earn a resounding win. It is only the second time this season that Mason has topped 70 points in a game, the other time coming in the season opener when Mason scored 79 points.

Next up for Mason is a meeting on Saturday with James Madison. That contest, at the Patriot Center, begins at 2 p.m. and will be televised on the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network (MASN).