Jan. 30, 2010
VIDEO highlights and post-game comments/Box Score
The George Mason men's basketball team tied a school record by winning its 17th-straight home game against a Colonial Athletic Association opponent, beating James Madison, 70-68 in front of 7,813 fans at Patriot Center. For Mason, it was its seventh-straight win overall and the seventh straight at home against James Madison. The win, coupled with Old Dominion's loss at Northeastern, left the Patriots all alone in first place in the CAA.
Cam Long had 23 points on 8 of 12 shooting and he scored the final 11 points for the Patriots (15-7, 10-1) over the final 7:30. Johnny Williams had a career-high eight points while Isaiah Tate and Louis Birdsong each had nine points. Ryan Pearson had seven points and eight boards. Denzel Bowles led James Madison (10-12, 3-8) with 20 points and 13 rebounds while Julius Wells had 19 points and Ben Louis and Matt Parker each had 10. The Patriots have won 13 of 14 against JMU and 22 of the past 27.
The Patriots used two runs to control most of the first half. Trailing 4-3, Mason went on a 13-4 run to go ahead 16-8. The Dukes responded with a 9-0 run to go ahead 17-16 and the game remained tight with 2:29 to go after a Matt Parker 3-pointer for James Madison made it 25-25. But the Patriots closed the first half with an 8-0 run as Pearson scored twice, Long hit a pull-up and Cornelius capped the stretch with a steal and layup to make it 33-25 at the intermission.
The Dukes scored the first four points of the second half before Mason responded with a 10-2 run to take their first double-digit lead as Tate drained a 3-pointer from the corner to make it 43-31 and force a JMU timeout. It stayed around a 10-point game until 3:51 to play when Ben Louis scored on a drive and made a free throw to pull the Dukes to within six at 65-59. A Mason turnover led to a pair of free throws for Bowles and a four-point Patriot lead.
Long responded with a drive and basket to once again make it a six-point game but Bowles answered with a bucket in the paint with 1:32 to play to make it 67-63. After Long made two free throws, Trevon Flores drained a 3-pointer to make it 69-66 with 52.1 seconds to play. After Luke Hancock missed on a drive, James Madison got the ball back and called timeout with 9.4 seconds to play. Wells was fouled and made both to make it 69-68 but Long made a free throw with less than four seconds to play to account for the final margin. Ben Louis' desperation shot as time expired was wide left.
Mason will return to action on Wednesday when they play at Georgia State at 7 p.m. in a game broadcast on WWRC 1260 AM.
