Dec. 1, 2009
The George Mason men's basketball team will play George Washington on Wednesday evening in the first meeting between the two teams in more than eleven years. Mason and the Colonials last played in the 1998-99 season opener. The game, which tips at 7 p.m., will be played at Smith Center in Washington D.C. and televised on MASN and broadcast on WTNT 570 AM. Tickets are still available for the game through Ticketmaster and can be purchased by clicking HERE
The Colonials own a 9-1 edge in the all-time series and they are 8-0 at home against Mason. The Patriots' lone win came more than 20 years ago when the Patriots won 94-75 at Patriot Center on January 23, 1989. The teams met the next season on Dec. 30, 1989. The only meetings in the past 20 years have been Jim Larranaga's first two seasons at Mason. The Patriots lost at home, 82-69 in his first year, then 71-59 his second season.
Both teams are coming off losses. Mason fell at Tulane on Saturday, 76-71 as the Green Wave closed the game on a 12-7 run to break a 64-64 tie. George Washington hosted Oregon State and fell behind 14-0 before pulling within two in the final minute. The Beavers were able to come away with a 64-57 win. For the Colonials, the loss was the first of the year as they opened with four straight wins. For Mason, it was the third loss in four games dropping the Patriots' record to 3-3. Two of those losses came to top 25 teams.
The Colonials have been led this season by Lasan Kromah's 14.0 points. Damian Hollis is scoring 10.6 points per game. There are seven GW players scoring 6.0 points or more per game. On the year, the Colonials are shooting 44.5 percent from the field while holding the opposition to 36.2 percent shooting. They also are outrebounding teams 42-31 with seven players averaging 3.2 rebounds per game or more.
Mason has been paced by Cam Long's 13.0 points per game. Luke Hancock is top two on the team in scoring, rebounding, assists, steals and field-goal percentage. He averaged 10.5 points, 5.7 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 0.8 steals while shooting 52.3 percent from the field. He is third in the CAA in field-goal percentage and he has twice been named CAA Rookie of the Week. Mike Morrison leads the team in rebounding and blocks with 7.3 boards and 2.0 blocks while averaging 9.2 rebounds and shooting 54.8 percent from the field.
