Nov. 27, 2010
Box Score
FAIRFAX, Va. - Four Patriots reached double-digit scoring and the George Mason men's basketball team held off Florida Atlantic for a 66-51 non-conference victory on Saturday afternoon at Patriot Center. The victory was the 250th for Mason head coach Jim Larranaga, now in his 14th season in Fairfax.
Junior Mike Morrison led the quartet of Mason (4-2) players with 18 points along with a team-high seven rebounds. Sophomore Luke Hancock added 14 points along with a game-high seven assists. Ryan Pearson and Cam Long each contributed 10 points. Leading the way for the Owls (3-4) was Greg Gantt who scored 15 points.
The teams kept pace with each other in the opening minutes, staying within one possession until five straight Mason points made it 12-7 heading into the first scheduled timeout. The run extended to 10-0 as the Owls were held without a field goal for nearly four minutes.
The difference remained in single digits for much of the half, but a long jumper by Vertrail Vaughns at the 6:49 mark made it 25-14. FAU pushed the score to 25-18 moments later, but Long answered back with a 3-pointer from the left baseline. The Mason lead would eventually stretch to 13 before a Dennis Mavin jumper with 10 seconds remaining set the halftime score at 34-23.
In the first half, Long led the team with eight points, pacing a Mason offense which shot 57.7 percent from the field in the first half (15-26) compared to a 36 percent mark for the Owls (9-25).
The Owls could not get closer than nine points in the second half and the Patriots opened a lead as large as 17. Mason held on for the win partially thanks to numerous opportunities at the free throw line, converting 10 of 18 attempts from the stripe in the second half compared to a 1-for-1 showing in the first period.
With the win, Larranaga now stands at 250-159 in his tenure at Mason and 447-329 overall in 27 years as a head coach.
Mason will look to make it three in a row on Wednesday evening when the Patriots host local rival George Washington at 7 p.m.
