Jan. 17, 2009

Box Score

The George Mason men's basketball team took over sole possession of first place in the Colonial Athletic Association on Saturday afternoon as the Patriots continued to set school records for their best-ever start to a season. The victim this time as Mason won its sixth-straight game and remained unbeaten at home was James Madison. The Dukes did not hold the lead once as Mason remained unbeaten at home, downing James Madison, 71-57.

The Patriots are 7-0 in the CAA for the first time in school history. Northeastern's loss earlier in the day left Mason as the lone unbeaten in the conference. The 14-3 overall record matches the best-ever start for a Mason team, tying the 1983-84 squad. The Patriots are now 9-0 at home and have won 23 of their past 24 home games. The 10-game winning streak against James Madison (12-7, 4-3) is the longest in school history. For the ninth time this year Mason held the opposition to fewer than 40 percent showing and less than 60 points. The Dukes shot 31.6 percent from the field. The current six-game winning streak is Mason's longest since an 8-game winning streak in 2005-06.

Louis Birdsong was 7 of 9 from the field and finished with 15 points while Ryan Pearson had 13 points and six rebounds and Cam Long had 13 points. John Vaughan added nine while Darryl Monroe had seven points and 11 rebounds. Pierre Curtis had 15 points for JMU while Juwann James added 13.

Defense was the focal point of the opening minutes as Mason was 2 of 8 to start the game while James Madison was 0 for 5. A Pearson basket and free throw made it 7-0 a little less than five minutes into the game. Both teams were able to find a bit of a rhythm and James Madison overcame its first-half turnovers by getting second chances on the offensive boards.

At the break, Mason held a 33-27 lead after being up by as many as nine. Pearson and Birdsong combined for 23 points in the first half and they were 8 of 10 from the field while the rest of the team was 4 of 16. James was 4 of 4 for the Dukes while the rest of the team was 6 of 25.

The Patriots took control of the game from the start of the second half with a 10-0 run capped by a John Vaughan 3-pointer to make it 43-27. The Dukes were able to trim the lead to 10 with 11 minutes to play but Mason kept the pressure on and kept enough of a cushion that a James Madison comeback never seemed possible, even when the Dukes pulled to within nine at the five-minute mark.

The Patriots return to action on Wednesday when they travel to Northeastern for a 7 p.m. tip between two of the CAA's top teams.