Feb. 27, 2010

VIDEO of post-game comments

Box Score

Fairfax, Va. - The George Mason men's basketball team dropped their regular-season finale on Saturday afternoon when Chaisson Allen made a pair of free throws for Northeastern with less than a second to play to lift Northeastern to a 50-48 win in front of 8,940 fans at Patriot Center. Mason had missed a shot with the score tied and time winding down when Allen got the rebound and threw up a desperation 3-pointer from about 30 feet trying to beat the buzzer. His attempt was wide but Ryan Pearson was whistled for a foul trailing the play giving Allen a chance to win the contest.

Mason finished the regular season tied for third in the CAA standings but will have the fourth seed in next week's CAA Tournament by virtue of the tiebreaker with William & Mary. After enjoying their first-round bye on Friday, the Patriots will be in action at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday against the winner of Friday's contest between #5 VCU and #12 Delaware.

Sherrod Wright led Mason with 13 points while Pearson had 11 points and six rebounds. Mike Morrison had eight points and 12 rebounds as Mason had more rebounds and a better shooting percentage but the Patriots turned the ball over twice as often as Northeastern and was just 9 of 14 from the free throw line while the Huskies were 7 of 8. Janning had 19 points while Allen had 10 points and seven rebounds along with three steals.

Mason used a 7-0 run early in the game to take a 13-6 lead on the Huskies. Thanks to two spectacular dunks by Wright, the Patriots were able to go ahead 18-12 with five minutes to go in the half. But Northeastern closed the frame with a 9-2 run to take their first lead since the opening minutes, 21-20 at the break. Mason outrebounded Northeastern and shot better from the field but turned the ball over nine times to just four Northeastern turnovers.

The Huskies used the first possession of the second half to take their largest lead of the game to that point, going ahead by four. Trailing 26-22, the Patriots went on a 9-2 run to take a 31-28 lead. But Northeastern got back into it and went ahead 35-33 on a deep Janning 3-pointer which he banked in with a little under 10 minutes to play. Trailing 39-36, Mason got a free throw from Pearson, an alley-oop dunk from Morrison off a pass from Luke Hancock and another free throw from Pearson to go ahead 40-39 with 5:20 to play. But Allen answered with a 3-pointer and the Patriots once again trailed, 42-40. Morrison scored again inside, this time on an assist from Wright.

Hancock's bank shot off a drive gave Mason a 44-42 lead and Hancock followed that with a block of an Allen 3-point attempt. Mason couldn't convert as Hancock missed the front end of a 1-and-1 and after getting an offensive rebound, Morrison was called for traveling. After a Northeastern miss, Hancock had a chance to redeem himself at the line, making two free throws for a 46-42 lead with 1:01 to go. But the Huskies came right back as Joel Smith scored inside and made a free throw, to cut it to a one-point game, 46-45 with 35 seconds to play. Pearson made a pair of free throws to make up for fouling Smith giving the Patriots a three-point cushion.

Mason needed it because Janning hit an NBA-range 3-pointer with 24 seconds to play to tie the score. After Hancock missed on a drive and Morrison was unable to slam home the rebound in traffic, Northeastern launched a desperation shot that was wide. But after the final horn sounded, the officials called a foul on Pearson and Allen made two free throws for the 50-48 win.

The loss was Mason's third-straight at home, only the third time under head coach Jim Larranaga that Mason has lost three straight home games. It previously happened in 1997-98, Larranaga's first season, and 2006-07. This season, the three losses were by a combined seven points. The Patriots set a new single-season attendance record of 91,330. It is the fourth-straight season the Patriots have averaged more than 6,000 fans.