Jan. 31, 2007
Box Score
A basketball season is filled with peaks and valleys, and there is little doubt that Monday's loss at Wilmington was a valley. On Wednesday night, the George Mason men's basketball team made a quick ascension, reaching an offensive peak, as the Patriots, behind the eighth-best shooting night in school history, easily dispatched of Delaware, taking an 89-59 win in Colonial Athletic Association action.
The Patriots (13-9, 7-4) made 28 of their first 39 shots, shooting 71.8 percent from the field over the game's first 33 minutes. Mason closed the game making 3 of its final 10 shots to finish with a .633 shooting percentage on 31 of 49 shooting. The school record is 69.7 percent, set Feb. 22, 1982 against East Carolina. The Patriots also shot 60 percent from 3-point range, converting 9 of 15 from long range.
The game was never in doubt after Mason turned a 15-12 lead into a 33-17 advantage. The Patriots cruised to their highest point total of the season, including a season-high 44 first-half points. Four players scored in double figures and 11 of the 12 players to take the court for Mason scored.
Folarin Campbell had 21 points, five rebounds and four assists, all team highs, as he made 5 of 7 from the field, 3 of 4 from 3-point range and 8 of 10 from the foul line. Dre Smith was 4 of 5 from 3-point range, the sixth-best individual performance from behind the arc in Mason history. Will Thomas added 14 points on 5 of 5 shooting and John Vaughan had 12 points.
Herb Courtney led Delaware (4-19, 2-10) with 16 points and nine rebounds but he committed seven turnovers with just one assist. Darrell Johnson had 11 points and Sam McMahon had 14 points and four rebounds. While Mason was coming off a tough loss, Delaware was coming off a big win, having beaten Hofstra, the league's second-place team, on Monday. Brian Johnson had 25 points in that game but he was held to six on 3 of 11 shooting on Wednesday.
The Patriots return to action on Saturday when they host Old Dominion at 6 p.m. in a game televised on ESPNU. Fewer than 1,000 tickets remain for that contest.
