Feb. 6, 2010

Box Score

The George Mason men's basketball team gave up a huge first-half run to Drexel, then allowed the Dragons to close strong as the Patriots dropped their second straight game, falling on the road at Drexel, 73-60. The Dragons used a 21-2 run in the first half to turn a 12-point deficit into a seven-point lead then after Mason pulled to within four with five minutes to play, the Dragon closed the game with a 15-6 run to drop the Patriots into second place in the Colonial Athletic Association.

Mike Morrison tied his career high with 17 points while Cam Long added 17 points and Ryan Pearson had 12 points and nine rebounds. But Mason (15-9, 10-3) was just 11 of 24 from the free throw line and 3 of 13 from 3-point range. Drexel (14-11, 9-4), which got 17 points from Chris Fouch, 14 points from Jamie Harris and 10 each from Samme Givens and Gerald Colds, was 25 of 31 from the free throw line and shot 45 percent from the field in the game. Mason now trails Northeastern by one game in the CAA standings. The Patriots are tied for second with Old Dominion and VCU and Drexel are one game back in fourth.

Things came easy early on for the Patriots as they jumped out to an 18-6 lead on the Dragons in the game's first 10:45. Cam Long and Mike Morrison each had four early points and Kevin Foster came off the bench to score five. But things changed dramatically when Leon Spencer hit a jumper with 10:13 to go, Drexel's first field goal in more than seven minutes. That launched the Dragons on a 21-2 run as the Patriots managed just one field goal in span of more than nine minutes. When the dust settled, Drexel led 27-20. Mason closed it to 27-24 with seconds to play before Jamie Harris' runner at the buzzer made it a five-point halftime lead for the Dragons.

Mason struggled early in the second half but Morrison picked up the slack eight straight points and when Isaiah Tate drained a 3-pointer with 13:00 to go, it pulled the Patriots to within three at 43-40. But Drexel responded with an 11-4 run to take a 54-44 lead with 9:43 to play, prompting a Mason timeout. After falling behind 56-45, the Patriots rallied to pull to within four at 58-54. But Drexel countered with a 5-1 run to go up eight with three minutes to play and Mason couldn't mount enough of a rally to avoid slipping to second place in the conference.

The Patriots will return to action on Tuesday when they host VCU at 7 p.m. at Patriot Center. That game will be air on ESPNU and be broadcast on WTNT 570 AM.