Usually, when a team goes without a field goal for the final 8:23, it doesn't bode well. For the George Mason men's basketball team on Saturday afternoon, it couldn't have mattered less. The Patriots had been so dominant for the first 32 minutes of the game, that scoring two points in the final eight-plus minutes proved meaningless, as Mason beat James Madison 73-52 in Colonial Athletic Association action.
A Patriot Center crowd of 8,044, ninth-largest in school history, saw Mason (9-7, 3-3) easily dispatch of its rival, making a season-high 11 3-pointers while outrebounding the Dukes, 37-20. John Vaughan had 16 points while Will Thomas, Dre Smith and Jordan Carter each scored 11 as Mason had four players in double figures for just the second time all season.
The Patriots led 16-14 a little more than 10 minutes into the game when shots started falling in a hurry. Smith and Vaughan hit back-to-back 3-pointers and Louis Birdsong hit a jumper in the paint for a 10-point Mason lead. James Madison (4-12, 1-5) made the score 27-21 with 4:36 to go in the half when the Patriots went on a game-clinching run. Mason outscored the Dukes 12-2 to close the half and take a 16-point lead into the break. The 39 first-half points were the most by Mason in the first half this season. Gabe Norwood had a dunk, Jordan Carter had a 3-pointer and two layups off steals and Folarin Campbell added a 3-pointer as Mason got scoring from nine different players.
Juwann James hit a jumper for the Dukes to open the second half to pull James Madison to within 14, but the Dukes never got any closer. Mason went on a 23-7 run midway through the period to build a 71-39 lead with 8:23 to play. That's when Mason's scoring draught began, but the Dukes managed just 13 points during that stretch and the Patriots won their third straight game by more than 20 points.
The Patriots now have their first three-game winning streak of the season, and they've done it behind a terrific defense and an effective offense. The Patriots are holding teams to 43.3 points per game during the stretch and limiting the opposition to less than 33 percent shooting from the field. The Patriots, meanwhile, have shot nearly 47 percent from the field while scoring 67.0 points per game.
Despite playing just 27.7 minutes per game because of the comfortable victories, Carter has still managed to be a force since rejoining the starting lineup earlier this week. He averaged 10.3 points, 5.7 assists, 4.0 rebounds and 3.0 steals with just a pair of turnovers. He's made 13 of 17 shots and he's 9 of 10 from the field over the past two games.
Mason will return to action on Tuesday when the Patriots play at William & Mary. Mason lost to the Tribe on Jan. 3, 67-63 at the Patriot Center.
