Feb. 3, 2009

Box Score

Fairfax, Va. - The George Mason men's basketball team won its 13th straight home game stretching back to last season and the Patriots ensured their 11th straight winning season on Tuesday night as the Patriots were never threatened by Hofstra, easily beating the Pride 78-54. Mason has won its 11 home games this season by average of 17.6 points.

Mason (16-6, 9-3) took its third-straight win over Hofstra (14-9, 6-6) by playing smothering defense and getting to the free throw line. The Patriots' post players carried the day as Darryl Monroe, Ryan Pearson and Mike Morrison combined to go 12 of 16 from the field and finishing with 32 points. John Vaughan led Mason with 16 points and seven rebounds.

As a team, Mason shot 49 percent from the field against the Colonial Athletic Association's top team in terms of field-goal percentage defense. The Pride entered the game allowing the opposition to shoot just 38.7 percent from the field. Mason turned the tables, holding Hofstra to 28.8 percent shooting. The biggest Hofstra offenders were Tony Dennison, Cornelius Vines and Charles Jenkins who were a combined 11 of 49 from the field.

Three days after allowing Old Dominion to shoot 57 percent from the field, the Patriots opened the game with their signature defense. Mason limited Hofstra to 2 of 13 shooting and five turnovers in the first seven-plus minutes as the Patriots built a 14-4 lead. The lead was as large as 12 after an Isaiah Tate 3-pointer with a little more than 10 minutes to play. The shooting woes continued for Hofstra and after eight minutes, Mason's Darryl Monroe was 4 of 5 from the field while Hofstra was 4 of 17.

With Mason leading 30-20 and just 2:40 to go in the half, it looked like neither team was going to put together much of a run until the Patriots suddenly scored seven straight, two on Long free throws and five on Pearson free throws. Mason was able to take a 39-21 lead into the half having held the Pride to 25 percent shooting. A 10-3 Mason run to open the second half closed the door on a Hofstra comeback.

The Pride did well on the boards in the game but they couldn't guard Mason in the paint. The Patriots outscored Hofstra 38-22 in the paint, and Mason did the most with Hofstra's 19 turnovers, scoring 27 points off of them. Hofstra had 19 turnovers and 25 fouls but just 19 field goals.

Prior to the game, Mason's new mascot was officially named "The Patriot." Anthony Burchette was the winner of the "Name the Mascot" contest. His name was chosen at random from those who submitted "The Patriot" as the new name. He will receive a reserved parking space for the 2009-2010 season.

The Patriots return to action on Saturday when they travel to James Madison to take on the Dukes at 2 p.m. That game will be televised on Comcast SportsNet and broadcast on WTNT 570.