Dec. 2, 2009

Box Score

Coach L's Postgame Press Conference

Washington D.C. - The George Mason men's basketball team faced George Washington for the first time in 11 years and the Patriots were unable to take their first-ever win at Smith Center as the Colonials improved to 9-0 all-time at home against Mason, beating the Patriots 66-49. George Washington used an 18-2 run at the start of the second half to put the game away, holding Mason without a field goal until 12:09 remained in the game.

The Colonials (5-1) controlled the game from the start. They led 5-0 and 14-5 before Mason (3-4) closed to make it an 18-16 game. At that point, GW went on an 8-0 run to take a double-digit lead. Mason cut it to five, but GW answered and went into the break ahead 35-27. When GW opened the second half with its big run, Mason found itself in too deep a hole to climb out of.

Mason was playing without starters Andre Cornelius and Ryan Pearson as the pair were serving a one-game suspension for violating team rules. Luke Hancock led the Patriots with a career-high 15 points while Kevin Foster had nine points and four rebounds. Mason was outrebounded 43-30 in the game and the Patriots shot just 34.8 percent while allowing the Colonials to shoot 46.8 percent. Damian Hollis led GW with 25 points.

The Patriots will return to the court on Saturday when they open Colonial Athletic Association action by traveling to UNC Wilmington to take on the Seahawks at 5 p.m. That game will be televised on MASN and broadcast on WTNT 570 AM.