Feb. 7, 2009

Box Score

Harrisonburg, Va. - The George Mason men's basketball team entered the JMU Convocation Center on Saturday afternoon exactly five years to the day since the last time the Patriots had lost a game to the Dukes. James Madison spoiled the Patriots' anniversary celebration, beating the Patriots, 68-66. The Dukes overcame twice as many turnovers as Mason by using strong 3-point shooting and free throw shooting.

John Vaughan had 19 points for Mason (16-7, 9-4) while Darryl Monroe added 13, but they were the only Patriots in double figures. Kyle Swanston led JMU (16-9, 8-5) with 19 points on 5 of 11 shooting form 3-point range. Dazzmond Thornton had 13 and Devon Moore added 11.

The Dukes' first five possessions resulted in three misses and a pair of turnovers as Mason was able to jump out to a 6-0 lead. But once JMU got on the board, they found a rhythm, using an 8-2 run to tie the score at 8-8. The game remained tight until the Dukes went on a 7-0 run to take a 25-18 lead with 7:00 to play. The Dukes held off a late 6-0 run by Mason to go into the half ahead 30-26.

The Dukes opened the second half with a 14-4 run to take a 44-30 lead. Thornton scored four and Swanson added a pair of 3-pointers to cap the run. In that stretch, Mason was 1 of 8 from the field. The Patriots finally got back into the game when Andre Cornelius and Vaughan hit back-to-back 3-pointers to turn an 11-point game into a 51-45 affair. The Dukes went back up by 10, 57-47, but that's when the Mason defense showed up.

The Patriots got a pair of free throws by Dre Smith, then a steal that set up a Vaughan 3-pointer. After a JMU offensive foul, Monroe scored inside to make it 57-54. The Patriots stole the inbound pass and Cam Long's dunk made it 57-56. Moments later, Andre Cornelius had a steal and went to the basket on the break, putting the Patriots ahead 58-57 with 5:22 to go. After a JMU miss, Monroe scored on a turnaround jumper to make it 60-57, finishing a 13-0 run.

A basket inside and a pair of free throws put the Dukes back in the driver's seat with 3:30 to go but Monroe again answered in the paint at the three-minute mark. Thornton again answered for JMU and a Mason turnover led to a pair of JMU free throws and a three-point Duke advantage, 65-62. Vaughan made a pair of free throws to trim it back to one and Mason got possession down 65-64. But Long missed a pull-up jumper, the Dukes got the ball back and Julius Wells made two free throws to again make it a three-point game. Mason got to one on Vaughan's layup with four seconds to go, but the Patriots weren't able to get a good look on the final possession.

The last time the Patriots had lost to James Madison was Feb. 7, 2004, a 72-64 overtime loss in Harrisonburg. The streak of 10-straight wins was the longest for Mason in the all-time series. The Dukes once had an 11-game winning streak against Mason in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Vaughan tied Ric Wilson, George Evans and Jordan Carter for eighth on the school's career games played list with 116.

The Patriots return to action on Thursday when they travel to Delaware to take on the Blue Hens at 7 p.m. That game will be televised on ESPNU and broadcast on ESPN 980.