Feb. 13, 2010

Box Score

Norfolk, Va. - The George Mason men's basketball team struggled offensively, committed too many turnovers and got beat on the boards as the Patriots fell to third place in the Colonial Athletic Association on Saturday, losing at Old Dominion, 76-60. The battle of second place teams was nothing like the earlier meeting between the teams, a 71-55 Mason win in January. This time, ODU used big runs to open both halves and Mason never threatened in the contest after the first five minutes.

Andre Cornelius had 13 points and Luke Hancock added 10 as Mason (16-10, 11-4) shot 30 percent from the field in the first half, and was outrebounded 38-30 in the game and committed 18 turnovers. The Monarchs (20-7, 12-3) hit eight 3-pointers in the game and got 19 points from Ben Finney, 16 from Gerald Lee and 12 from Marsharee Neely.

After opening with the game's first point, Mason watched as Old Dominion went on a 17-0 run to build a comfortable first-half lead. The Patriots opened the game 0 for 9 from the field with five turnovers. The run ended when Mason made its first field goal, an Andre Cornelius 3-pointer with 11:13 to go in the half. The Patriots slowly chipped at the lead, pulling to within nine, 26-17 with 3:10 to go in the half. But ODU finally snapped a scoreless streak that last 4:30 and Neely's 3-pointer with two seconds to go in the half made it a 34-21 game at the break.

Any hope of a comeback ended as soon as the second half began. The Monarchs opened with a 17-4 run with the final four points coming on technical free throws by Gerald Lee after Mike Morrison was charged with a double technical foul and ejected. Morrison will miss Mason's game against William & Mary on Tuesday per CAA rules. With the deficit at 26, Mason was left to play for Pride. The Patriots trimmed the lead to 17 on several occasions and made it 16 on the final shot of the game, an Isaiah Tate 3-pointer.

The Patriots return to action on Tuesday when they host William & Mary at Patriot Center at 7 p.m. That game will be televised on MASN and broadcast on WTNT 570 AM.