Nov. 21, 2010
Box Score
CHARLESTON, S.C. - In the consolation game of the 2010 ESPN Charleston Classic, the George Mason men's basketball team could not hold off Wofford as the Terriers outlasted the Patriots in overtime, 82-79, at Carolina First Arena Sunday evening. Mason dropped to 2-2 on the season following the loss while the Terriers improved to 2-3.
Sophomore Luke Hancock led the Patriots with 17 points while senior Cam Long contributed 11 to pace the Mason offense, which matched the Terriers from the field by shooting 46 percent. Mason's second-half field goal shooting dropped to 33.3 percent and despite a 52-to-26 rebounding advantage, the Patriots committed 17 turnovers overall compared to five for Wofford. Cameron Rundles and Jamar Diggs paced the Terrier offense with 26 and 23 points, respectively.
After an early 3-0 lead for the Patriots, the contest remained tight with the differential staying within one possession for nearly six minutes. A 10-2 run by the Patriots pushed the lead to 18-9, and the nine-point margin held up as Mason's largest of the first half. The Patriots, who opened the game shooting 9-of -13, connected on just three of thei r next 12 attempts as Wofford knotted the score at 28 with 2:48 left in the first half.
A Vertrail Vaughns 3-pointer followed by a Long reverse layup gave Mason the lead back at 33-28, and after the Terriers cut it to four, Mike Morrison rejected a shot by Rundles and on the break, Andre Cornelius dished it to Long on the left elbow who drained the 3-pointer as time expired, giving the Patriots a 38-31 lead at the half.
Long led the Patriots with 11 points in the first half and had four boards which led a Patriots 22-12 advantage off the glass. Rundles posted 16 of the Terriers' points in the opening half.
The lead fluctuated through the opening minutes of the second half, and a Rundles 3-pointer that circled the rim before going in cut the margin to 46-45 with 13:41 left. A tip-in by Isaiah Tate made it 48-45, but a Diggs three-point play tied the score for the first time in nearly 11 minutes. Wofford took the lead briefly afterwards and then a Loesing layup at the 7:24 mark put the Terriers ahead, 55-53.
That advantage would grow to four at 58-54, but the Patriots came back to tie the score at 58 with 4:22 showing on the clock. A Terrier free throw pushed the ledger in their direction at 59-58, but Pearson scored a layup plus a free throw to give Mason a 61-59 advantage with just over two minutes left. Trading buckets, the teams entered the final minute of regulation tied at 63. Hancock made one of two from the line with 53 seconds to go to put his team ahead, and the Terriers turned it over on their next possession. An open-court foul on Hancock sent the sophomore to the line once again, and again Hancock added a point to the Patriots' total.
Diggs laid it in with 17.8 seconds remaining to tie the score at 65. Mason had the ball with just under nine seconds left after a timeout, but turned the ball over. Diggs had a good look at the game-winning basket from just inside half-court, but the shot rimmed out and the teams headed to the extra period.
Morrison hit both of his free throws 14 seconds into overtime, but five straight Wofford points gave them the 70-67 lead. A pair from the stripe by Hancock made it 70-69 with three minutes left to play. The Patriots continued to trail by no more than a possession, until Diggs hit a 3-pointer with 19 seconds remaining to make it 79-75. Bennett answered on the other side of the court with a layup. Needing to foul, the Patriots sent Diggs to the line with 13 seconds left, and he sank both attempts. Ryan Pearson scored a basket with three seconds to go, but Wofford held on for the 82-79 victory.
Mason returns home to begin a five-game homestand on Wednesday evening with a 7 p.m. tip against Radford.
