Dec. 1, 2008

Box Score

Lynchburg, Va. - The George Mason men's basketball team fought from behind nearly the entire night then was unable to hold on to a pair of late leads as Seth Curry hit a 3-pointer to force overtime then scored five of his game-high 22 points in the extra period as the Patriots fell at Liberty, 69-66.

Mason got 18 points and nine rebounds from Cam Long, both career highs, and Darryl Monroe had eight points and 13 rebounds. John Vaughan added 14 points and six assists and Andre Cornelius had 10 points and four assists. Louis Bridsong had 12 points, seven rebounds and a career-high four blocks. Anthony Smith and Kyle Ohman each had 16 points for Liberty.

Liberty (5-1) was 11 of 34 from 3-point range while Mason (5-2) was just 5 of 19 from behind the arc. Mason also turned the ball over 15 times which helped the Flames overcome a 41-38 Mason rebounding edge.

After missing their first five shots, all from the perimeter, the Patriots finally started getting the ball inside. Darryl Monroe and Louis Birdsong allowed Mason to tie the game at 8-8 and later, pull to within one at 16-15. But the Flames closed the half with a 16-9 run to go ahead by eight at the break. Kyle Ohman and Anthony Smith each were 4 of 9 from the field to have 10 and nine points at the break, respectively.

For Mason, Birdsong had double figures on 4 of 4 shooting. Monroe was 2 of 2 from the field and the test of the team was 3 for 19. The most startling first-half number was on the boards. Mason came into the game with a +7 rebounding differential while Liberty was -7. At the break, the Flames were outrebounding Mason 20-16, including 6-2 on the offensive glass.

Liberty scored the first points of the second half to go ahead by 10, but Mason responded with an 8-0 run to pull to within two. The guards finally started contributing in the points column as John Vaughan had four and Cam Long and Andre Cornelius each had two. Mason took its first lead of the game with 11:28 to play on Cornelius' 3-pointer from the left corner. The lead lasted less than 20 seconds as Johnny Stephene answered with a 3-pointer.

From that point it was a back-and-forth affair with each team having an answer for the other. Trailing 58-56, Cam Long hit a 3-pointer with 1:21 to play to put Mason up 59-58. Long found Birdsong alone under the basket with 28 seconds to play to make it 61-58. Liberty made the most of its last possession as Curry hit the game-tying 3-pointer to force overtime. In the extra period, Mason was able to build a 66-62 lead, its largest of the night. But Liberty finished the game with a 7-0 run as Anthony Smith made a 3-pointer and Curry hit a long two and a pair of free throws to ice the game.

The Patriots return to the court on Saturday when they play their Colonial Athletic Association opener, traveling to Drexel for a 4:30 p.m. contest. That game will be televised on CN8 and broadcast on WWRC 1260.