Dec. 5, 2009

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Box Score

Wilmington, N.C. - The George Mason men's basketball team accomplished something that hadn't happened in 25 years on Saturday afternoon. The Patriots went to UNCW and won for the second straight time, beating the Seahawks 57-52 in Colonial Athletic Association action. The Patriots won 53-52 last year. Mason last won at UNCW in back-to-back seasons in 1983 and 1984.

Ryan Pearson had 14 points and eight rebounds while Cam Long had 12 and Andre Cornelius had 11. Mason shot 42.9 percent for the game while holding UNCW to 35.1 percent shooting, including 29.4 percent from 3-point range. John Fields had 21 points and 13 rebounds while Chad Tomko had 11. The Seahawks had a 41-33 edge on the boards including 19-12 on the offensive end but they committed 20 turnovers and went to the line 11 times while sending Mason 20 times.

With the exception of a 90-second stretch, the first half was all Mason (4-4, 1-0). The Patriots led 10-2 early and stretched it to a 23-6 lead with 4:57 to play. Montez Downey made three free throws at the 4:02 mark and the Patriots gave up two baskets on the ensuing two possessions before once again clamping down and holding the Seahawks (3-5, 0-1) scoreless for the rest of the half. Mason shot 12 of 28 from the field in the first 20 minutes while UNCW was just 5 of 22.

Mason went ahead by as many as 20 in the second half and the Patriots led 39-22 with 14:12 to play after a pair of Pearson free throws. But UNCW struck back with 3-pointers from Darryl Felder and Ahmad Grant to make it 39-28 with 13:23 to play. The Seahawks continued to turn Mason misses and turnovers into offense as Tomko finally got going, hitting on back-to-back 3-pointers, a free throw and a basket in transition to make it 41-39. Andre Cornelius answered with a 3-pointer of his own to make it a five-point lead, 44-39 with 7:32 to play.

While UNCW was able to pull to within two on three occasions, they never could get the game-tying basket. Mason led from start to finish and has now won four straight over UNCW for just the second time in school history, the first coming from 1982-84.

The Patriots will return to the court on Tuesday when they play their first home game since Nov. 15. Mason will host Dayton at 7 p.m. at Patriot Center in a game televised on MASN and broadcast on WTNT 570 AM. The Flyers, who opened the season nationally ranked, are currently 5-2 on the season.