Jan. 14, 2009

Box Score

Williamsburg, Va. - The George Mason men's basketball team improved to 13-3 on the season and 6-0 in the Colonial Athletic Association on Wednesday night but it was by no means an easy accomplishment. The College of William & Mary forced numerous Mason turnovers and crashed the offensive boards hard, but the Patriots' defense proved superior in the end as Mason beat the Tribe, 61-57 at Williamsburg, Va.

The 6-0 start is the best-ever in CAA play and the 13-3 overall record matches Mason's best after 16 games. The 1983-84 team was also 13-3. Dre Smith led Mason with 14 points and he had six rebounds. Darryl Monroe just missed his fourth-straight double-double, finishing with 12 points and nine rebounds. John Vaughan had 13, including four big free throws down the stretch. Mason kept William & Mary to under 60 points and less than 40 percent shooting from the field, the eighth time this season the Patriots have done so. Danny Sumner led the Tribe with 17 points while David Schneider had 15 points and 11 rebounds.

The first 10 minutes featured some very unattractive basketball as neither team could find any semblance of an offensive rhythm. Mason opened the game 2 of 10 from the field while the Tribe wasn't much better at 4 of 16. With 9:32 to play in the half, Cam Long's basket in the lane gave Mason a 10-9 lead.

The Patriots were the first ones to snap out of the offensive malaise. Down 13-12, Louis Birdsong scored inside, Isaiah Tate slipped behind the defense for a layup off a Cam Long pass, and John Vaughan had a steal, layup and free throw to make it 19-13. With 1:40 to go, Mason had its largest lead of the half, 29-21. But the Tribe hit a 3-pointer and a 17-footer to make it 29-26 at the break.

Mason came out in the second half going 4 of 5 from the field including 3 of 4 from long range as the Patriots used a 13-4 run to take a 42-30 lead. Smith had two treys and Long drained a 3-pointer while John Vaughan had a basket and Birdsong made a pair of free throws. With their backs to the wall, the Tribe responded with a 12-2 run to once again make it a two-point game as Sumner had five points and Kendrix Brown hit a big 3-pointer. The Tribe kept pushing and David Schneider's offensive rebound and putback with 9:26 to go gave William & Mary their first lead of the half, 47-46.

That's when Mason woke up. First Monroe tipped in a ball on the offensive boards, then Andre Cornelius had a steal and layup, then Smith drained a 3-pointer, his third of the half, to make it 53-47. Again the Tribe came back and this time a Schneider steal and layup made it 55-55 with 2:15 to go. Mason responded with a Ryan Pearson basket in the paint off a Vaughan basket and the score stayed at 57-55 until Vaughan's four free throws in the final 30 seconds made it 60-55.

The Patriots return to action on Saturday when they host James Madison at 2 p.m. at Patriot Center. The game will be televised on CN8, Comcast Sports South and Cox Cable Channel 74 and broadcast on WTNT 570. The first 1,500 fans will receive a FREE mascot bobblehead doll courtesy of INOVA Blood Donor Services. All youngsters can participate in the post-game Free Throw Shoot on the Patriot Center floor followed by an autograph session with select Mason players.