Jan. 21, 2009

Box Score

Boston, Mass. - The George Mason men's basketball team suffered its first Colonial Athletic Association loss of the season on Wednesday night as the Patriots traveled to Northeastern and saw their six-game winning streak snapped as the Huskies downed the Patriots, 58-57. Mason is now in a three-way tie for first with the Huskies and VCU, who Mason will play in its next contest.

The game was held up for more than 15 minutes with a little more than two minutes to play when Mason's John Vaughan fainted during a Northeastern free throw attempt. The senior guard who led Mason in scoring in the game with 19 points had suffered a blow to the head a few moments earlier and he was taken to Beth Israel hospital to be evaluated. As information on his injury becomes available, details will be posted on GoMason.com.

Mason did not play its signature defense except for brief moments. After holding the past six opponents to fewer than 40 percent shooting, the Patriots allowed Northeastern to shoot 54.8 percent from the field, the best any opponent has done against Mason this year. Matt Janning had 20 points for Northeastern, which has won the past three meetings between the teams in Boston.

Mason trailed by four when Vaughan left and the second free throw attempt put the Huskies up 56-51 with 2:12 to play. Mason responded with a 6-0 run to take its only lead of the game. Darryl Monroe hit a basket in the lane, Andre Cornelius had a steal and layup and Monroe had a steal that led to a pair of Long free throws to make it 57-56. But Northeastern got a Manny Adako layup with 25 seconds to go and Mason was unable to get a last shot off.

The Patriots started slowly on the offensive end and after six-plus minutes, Mason had just two points and was in an 8-2 hole. The Patriots pulled to within three at 10-7 but Northeastern responded with a 10-4 run to take a nine-point lead midway through the first half. Mason used a 5-0 run to pull to within four but again the Huskies answered, this time taking a 10-point lead, 28-18 with less than four minutes to go in the half. Cam Long had a 3-pointer and Louis Birdsong contributed with a pair of baskets to make it 28-25 but the Huskies closed the half with a pair of baskets to take a 32-25 halftime lead. It was the first time Mason trailed at the half since Dec. 1 at Liberty.

The second half seemed to be a repeat of the first as Mason would continually make runs to close the deficit to three or four only to see the Huskies respond with a few baskets to reassert their control of the contest. A Vaughan 3-pointer and Pearson free throw with 8:48 to go allowed the Patriots to make it a 50-47 contest.

The Patriots return to action on Saturday when they play at VCU in a game to be televised on ESPN2. Tip time in Richmond is 4 p.m.