Nov. 22, 2009

Box Score

San Juan, Puerto Rico - Cam Long and Luke Hancock made clutch 3-pointers in the final 1:33 and the George Mason men's basketball team held Indiana without a field goal over the final 2:57 as the Patriots topped the Hoosiers, 69-66 in the Puerto Rico Tip-Off in San Juan.

Andre Cornelius' jumper with 2:19 to play tied the game at 62-62 and after an Indiana turnover, Hancock made a 3-pointer from the wing to put Mason ahead 65-62. The Hoosiers tied the score again going 3 of 4 from the free throw line, but Long stepped up as the shot clock and game clock were winding down and banked in a trey with 5.4 seconds to play. The Patriots fouled Indiana before it got a shot off and the Hoosiers made one free throw before intentionally missing the second. Rashad Whack got the rebound and made a free throw with 0.6 seconds to play to ice the game.

Mike Morrison set a new Puerto Rico Tip-Off Tournament record with seven blocks, the most by a Mason player since George Evans had seven against American on Dec. 18, 1999. He finished with 17 points and 13 rebounds, both career highs. Cam Long had 18 points, five rebounds, three assists and three steals and Luke Hancock again flirted with a triple double with nine points, eight rebounds and eight assists. Cornelius had nine points while playing terrific defense for 33 minutes.

Mason (3-2) held the Hoosiers (2-3) to 35.1 percent shooting but Indiana was 21 of 28 from the free throw line. Mason shot 45.5 percent from the field but was just 16 of 27 from the line. Mason was outrebounded 43-25 including 18-13 on the offensive glass. Maurice Creek led Indiana with 15 points while Christian Watford had 10 points and eight rebounds.

The game was close from start to finish. Indiana's largest lead was six points in the opening minute of the second half while Mason's largest lead was four, with 13:35 to play. The win allowed Mason to avoid its first three-game losing streak since February of 2007 when the Patriots fell to ODU in overtime, VCU on the road and Hofstra at home.

Mason will return to Fairfax on Monday and have close to a week off before retaking the court on Saturday when the Patriots play at Tulane at 3 p.m. EST.