Nov. 13, 2009

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Fairfax, Va. - The George Mason men's basketball team played without its leader for nearly the entire second half and weathered a big Liberty onslaught, but in the closing two and a half minutes, the Patriots answered the challenge, beating the Flames 76-72 in front of a crowd of more than 6,000 at Patriot Center. It was the 2009-2010 season opener for both teams.

The victory was Mason's 17th straight at Patriot Center. That ties the school's Division I record for consecutive home wins.

Cam Long left the game with 18:05 to play with leg cramps and Mason ahead 47-34. The Patriots were able to go ahead by as many as 19 before Liberty used a 31-15 run to close to within three, 68-65, with 2:31 to play. But Andre Cornelius found Louis Birdsong inside for an easy basket and Mike Morrison added a free throw to make it a six-point game. After a Liberty free throw, freshman Luke Hancock scored a big basket as the shot clock expired to make it 73-66. A Kyle Ohman 3-pointer made it 73-69 but Mason made its free throws down the stretch to seal the victory.

After falling behind 6-0 in the first three minutes, Hancock came off the bench to score seven points as part of a 17-5 run that put the Patriots in control of the game. After that, Mason got nine first-half points from Cornelius, seven from Long and six from Morrison to take a 40-27 lead at the break. Liberty's first 11 points were scored by Ohman who had a pair of 3-pointers, two layups and a free throw. But he didn't score again until 11:34 to play in the game. He still managed to finish with a game-high 23 points. Jesse Sanders had 15 and David Minaya added 12 for Liberty.

Cornelius led the Patriots with 17 points including 4 of 6 from 3-point range and 5 of 6 from the free throw line. Ryan Pearson had 12 points and eight rebounds while going 6 of 6 from the charity stripe. Morrison had 12 points, seven rebounds and three blocks while Hancock led all bench scorers with 11 points. Long finished with seven points, five assists and no turnovers in 20 minutes.

The critical first-half stretch came with Mason ahead 26-20. Morrison scored in the paint, Long made a basket on the break, Sherrod Wright hit a 3-pointer and Morrison again scored inside to put the Patriots ahead by 15. In the second half, Mason went up by 19, 53-34, but with Long on the bench with cramps, the Patriots struggled to find an offensive flow.

Mason returns to action on Sunday at 4 p.m. when the Patriots take on Dartmouth at Patriot Center. The Patriots will then have a few days to practice before heading to Puerto Rico to play in the Puerto Rico Tip-Off where they will face Villanova on Thursday at 2 p.m. The Patriots will also play next Friday and Sunday in San Juan.