Feb. 9, 2008

Box Score

Norfolk, Va. - The George Mason men's basketball team entered Saturday's game having lost just once since January 9. But Norfolk is a city in which the Patriots rarely play well, and that was no different this time as the Patriots fell at Old Dominion, 72-64 in Colonial Athletic Association action.

The Monarchs (12-13, 7-6) closed the first half with a 12-3 run to take an 11-point lead into the break and denied Mason (17-7, 9-4) many easy baskets in the second half. Mason did pull to within five in the closing minutes but Brandon Johnson's 3-pointer with 1:22 to go gave the Monarchs enough of a cushion and they hit free throws down the stretch to seal the win.

Will Thomas had 18 points and 16 rebounds for Mason. It was his 11th double-double of the season, which leads the CAA. He surpassed 1,400 points on his career and moved into 12th on the school's career points list. Folarin Campbell had 28 points, a new career high. He moved into 14th on the school's career points list. John Vaughan was held scoreless in just 21 minutes of action. He had scored in double figures in 15 straight games, which had been the longest active streak in the CAA.

The first half was one of runs and Old Dominion's two trumped Mason's one. The Monarchs opened the game with a 12-5 run but the Patriots trimmed the lead to 12-9 with Folarin Campbell scoring Mason's first seven points and handing out an assist to Cam Long that made it a three-point game. Old Dominion pushed the lead to double figures, going ahead 24-13. That's when Mason rallied, outscoring the Monarchs 15-6 to make it a 30-28 game. Abdi Lidonde had ODU's answer as he made three 3-pointers in the final 4:07 of the half as the Monarchs closed the half with an 12-3 run allowing one Mason field goal in the final 4:25.

Old Dominion's 42-31 halftime lead represented the most points allowed by Mason in a first half all season. Lidonde led the Monarchs with 13 points on 5 of 5 shooting, including 3 of 3 from 3-point range. Thomas had 12 points and seven rebounds for Mason while Campbell had 10 points.

Faced with an 11-point halftime deficit after giving up its most points all season in a first half, Mason was unable to make any impact in the opening minutes of the second half. The Patriots needed more than four minutes to record a field goal, allowing Old Dominion to build a 48-34 lead with 15 minutes to play.

Mason will next take the court on Wednesday when the Patriots travel to Towson to take on the Tigers in a game televised on MASN. Tip time for that contest is 9 p.m.