Jan. 20, 2007
Box Score
Will Thomas made 10 of 11 shots from the field tying the third-best single-game individual performance in school history and Mason held the opposition to fewer than 70 points for the 16th straight time as the Patriots used a 26-8 run to pull away from Northeastern, downing the Huskies 78-53 in front of 6,928 fans at the Patriot Center. Mason (11-7, 5-3) has now won five straight with a big game against Colonial Athletic Association leader Virginia Commonwealth (16-3, 8-0) looming on Wednesday.
Thomas scored a game-high 20 points and he improved his career shooting percentage to .607, becoming the school's all-time leader in that category. Over the past seven games he is shooting better than 76 percent from the field. John Vaughan added 16 points on four 3-pointers while Folarin Campbell had eight points, eight rebounds and four assists. The Patriots had just four turnovers in their previous game, at William & Mary on Wednesday, and on Saturday, they nearly equaled that performance with just six turnovers. Over the past four games, Mason has 81 assists on 122 baskets with just 35 turnovers.
The Patriots opened an eight-point first-half lead and seemed in control until a Northeastern run midway through the period. With Mason holding a 24-16 edge, Adrian Martinez drained a 3-pointer and Manny Adako, Bennet Davis and Bobby Kelly each scored easy baskets in the paint to give Northeastern (5-14, 3-5) its lone lead of the day, 25-24. Mason responded with a 12-0 run as Thomas scored three straight baskets, Darryl Monroe had a tip-in and Campbell and Carter each scored on fastbreak layups. Martinez hit his fifth 3-pointer of the half and Davis sank a jumper as the Huskies made it 36-30 at the break.
The second half, however, was all Mason. The Patriots led 50-39 with 13:44 to go when they began their big run. Vaughan got it going with a 3-pointer, and after an Adako bucket, Chris Fleming scored on a tip-in and Dre Smith hit a 3-pointer for a 17-point lead. Thomas had back-to-back baskets before Davis hit a pair of free throws to make it 62-43. Thomas, Vaughan, Campbell, Louis Birdsong and Jesus Urbina all scored over the next six minutes as Mason built a 76-47 edge.
Northeastern managed just two field goals over the final 13:07, with the second, a 3-pointer by Eugene Spates, coming with 31 seconds to play. After scoring 15 points in the first half, Martinez was held scoreless in the second half. Matt Janning finished with 12 points while Manny Adako had 10 points. Bennet Davis entered the game averaging 14.9 points, 7.4 rebounds and 2.1 blocks. He finished with 10 points, two rebounds and no blocks.
Jordan Carter, the reigning CAA Co-Player of the Week continued his strong play with seven points and five assists. Over the past three games, he has 14 assists without a turnover and over the past six contests, he has 26 assists and just two turnovers. He has a 3.15 assist to turnover ratio that would be second in the CAA if he had enough assists to qualify. He needs seven assists against VCU or nine assists over his next two games to reach the 2.5 assists per game minimum.
Mason will now look to Wednesday night and a showdown with the Rams, who have won 14 of their past 15. Mason won both meetings between the teams last year.
