Nov. 29, 2008

Box Score

Fairfax, Va. - It was like watching a bad movie all over again. Last year, in Athens, Ohio, Mason took a 17-point first-half lead only to eventually lose by 12. So as Mason's 19-point first-half lead continued to dwindle in the second half on Saturday at Patriot Center, fans had to wonder if they were just watching the same film all over again. Not to worry. This time around, there was a happy ending as the Patriots held off Ohio, beating the Bobcats 74-65.

The win, which came with five Mason players scoring in double figures, evened Mason's all-time record at 597-597, the first time Mason has been .500 since it was 1-1 in its first season of play. Dre Smith had a season-high 15 points, Cam Long had 15 points and five assists, Ryan Pearson added 13, Darryl Monroe had 11 points, nine rebounds and three assists and Andre Cornelius had 12. Jerome Tillman led Ohio with 22 points and 16 rebounds.

The game was relatively close in the early minutes, with Mason leading 14-10 after eight minutes. A 14-0 run completely changed the complexion of the game. During those first 14 minutes, Ohio was just 3 of 16 from the field with seven turnovers. Mason was able to build a 30-11 lead before Ohio closed the half with a 19-10 run to make it an even 10-point deficit at the break.

The Bobcats would have been hopeless if not for free throws. At the break, Mason was shooting 55.2 percent while Ohio was shooting 33.3 percent. Mason had just five turnovers while Ohio had nine. But the Patriots were just 3 of 4 from the free throw line while Ohio was 11 of 15. Cam Long led Mason with 11 points and four assists as he was one of eight Patriots to score in the half. Ohio was led by Tillman who had 14 points and eight rebounds.

Ohio came out with a lot of energy in the second half as they used a 7-2 run to cut the deficit to five, 42-37. That's when Mason seemed to wake up, coming out of a timeout to go on a 6-0 run and once again make it a double-digit lead. Ohio never got closer than seven until the closing minutes when Mason made just enough free throws to win.

The Patriots will return to action on Monday when they play at Liberty at 7 p.m. That game will be televised on MASN and broadcast on WWRC 1260.