Feb. 14, 2009
Box Score
The George Mason men's basketball team remained unbeaten at home in one of their toughest challenges of the season as the Patriots hosted first-place Northeastern on Saturday and Mason came away with a 64-53 win, its first Homecoming victory since the 2005-06 season. Mason is now 17-8 on the year, 10-5 in the Colonial Athletic Association while Northeastern is 16-9, 11-4. The Patriots are in third while Northeastern may drop out of first if VCU, 11-3 entering Saturday's action, wins at Old Dominion in a contest later on Saturday.
For Mason it was its 14th-straight home win dating back to last year and the 27th win in its past 28 games at Patriot Center. John Vaughan led Mason with 16 points while Cam Long had 14 points and 10 rebounds, his second career double-double. Darryl Monroe added 10 points. Northeastern's lone double figure scorer was Matt Janning, but he didn't get there until the final two minutes, finishing with 13 points.
The first half saw both teams struggle for large stretches. First the Huskies held Mason scoreless for nearly six minutes, turning an 8-6 deficit into a 12-8 Northeastern lead. Later in the half, the Patriots held Northeastern scoreless for more than seven minutes but Mason managed just six points in that stretch, trimming a 16-10 deficit to a 16-16 tie less than a minute before the half. At the break, Mason trailed 20-17 as the Patriots had their lowest-scoring half of the season. It was also the fewest points Mason has allowed in a half.
The second half saw the Patriots outscore their first half production in less than seven minutes. Mason snapped a string of 16 straight misses from 3-point range when Cam Long drained a 3-pointer to give Mason a 24-22 lead less than two minutes into the second half. The Huskies came back to take a 26-24 lead when Mason finally took control of the contest.
A 15-3 run ensued that saw Mason get a pair of Vaughan 3-pointers and baskets by Mike Morrison, Darryl Monroe and Andre Cornelius. Morrison had two free throws and Louis Birdsong added one from the stripe while Northeastern's production in that span was a Chris Alvarez free throw. The Huskies trimmed the 10-point deficit to five at 40-35, but Cam Long's basket and free throw put the Patriots back ahead by eight and Monroe's basket in the paint made it 45-35.
From that point on, Northeastern was never able to serious challenge, although the Huskies did keep Mason from pulling away. It was Northeastern's worst loss in the CAA this season as their previous three losses were by a combined 14 points. Mason committed just two turnovers in the second half and allowed just two offensive rebounds. The Huskies stayed close by going 18 of 24 from the foul line while Mason was 21 of 36.
The Patriots return to action on Wednesday when they host Drexel at 7 p.m. That game will be televised on FiOS1 and broadcast on WWRC 1260.
