LYNCHBURG, Va. - The George Mason men's basketball team passed
the first official road test of the 2010-11 season with ease, crushing
Liberty, 84-54, on Saturday evening at the Vines Center. Mason used its
best shooting effort and largest margin of victory of the season to
improve to 8-2 on the season, the Patriots' sixth straight victory.
Liberty dropped to 6-5 after the loss.
Senior Cam Long and junior Ryan Pearson each chipped in 16 points to lead a Mason offense which shot 60 percent from the field (33-55) in the game. Sophomore Luke Hancock
joined them in double figures as he contributed 12 points. Long also
pulled down a game-high eight rebounds. Evan Gordon and Jesse Sanders
each had 12 points to lead the Flames, who were held to 39.6 percent
field goal shooting (19-48). Mason also won the turnover battle, 17-9.
Mason scored the first four points of the game,
part of an 8-2 run in the first 2:15 to open the contest. The Flames
worked their way back, eventually tying the score at 11 on a Brown layup
at the 14.31 mark.
After LU took the lead on a Sanders layup 32 seconds later, the
teams traded the lead five more times. with the Patriots pushing the
margin to double digits at 33-23. The fastbreak layup by Cornelius at
the 6:39 to conclude a 13-2 run which spanned more than four minutes.
Another large Patriots run expanded the gap even further, as Mason
pieced together a 14-1 stretch to lead 43-24 with 2:24 left in the
opening half. The Patriots would eventually lead by 22 at the half,
48-26, as the run reached 19-3 over the final 6:26 of the first half.
Fueled by 74.1 percent field goal shooting in the first half (20-27),
Mason had its largest lead of the season at the intermission. Vaughns
was 3-for-3 from the field (2-2 3FG) to contribute nine points in the
first half.
The Flames had no answer for the Patriots in the second half.
Liberty could get no closer than 18 while the Mason lead grew as large
as 32.
Mason will break 11 days for exams and look for its
seventh-straight win on Wednesday, December 22, when the Patriots travel
to Atlantic 10 foe Duquense. Tip time from Pittsburgh is set for 8 p.m.
