FAIRFAX, Va. - Junior
Ryan Pearson led a quartet of George Mason men's basketball players in
double-figure scoring as the Patriots defeated Delaware, 75-66, in Colonial
Athletic Association action on Monday evening at the Patriot Center. The
victory marked the 10th of the season for the Patriots (10-3, 2-0
CAA), while the Blue Hens dropped to 6-6 and 1-1 in league play.
Pearson scored 19 points on
7-of-11 shooting, while sophomore Luke Hancock added 17 points to go with a
team-high seven rebounds. Seniors Isaiah Tate and Cam Long added 12 and 11
points, respectively. Alphonso Dawson and Jawan Carter each dropped 20 points
to lead the Blue Hen offense, which was out-shot by a 56.5-to-44.1 percent
margin from the field.
Into the second half, the
Patriots maintained the lead, and a 10-0 run increased that margin to 12 points
as Delaware was held scoreless for better than four minutes. With the drought
ended by a 3-pointer from Dawson at the 6:24 mark, the Patriots lead was cut to
single-digits but Mason held the advantage until the final horn, as Mason
picked up its third-straight 2-0 start in conference play.
The game's first basket came
on an alley-oop tip-in from Pearson to Hancock, and the Patriots continued to
hold the Blue Hens scoreless for nearly three minutes, building an 8-2 lead in
the early going. UD came back to tie it up at eight, where the score remained
for nearly three minutes until the Blue Hens' first lead came on a three-point
play by Brian Johnson at the 11:50 mark which capped a 9-0 run.
Mason's deficit grew as large
as five, 15-10, but six straight returned the lead to the Patriots after
Morrison punctuated the run on a fast-break dunk. The lead changed hands four
more times but a 16-6 run made it 26-21 in favor of the Patriots. Mason's lead
held up for the duration of the first half, leading by as many as seven before
heading to the locker room with a 33-28 advantage. Long led the Patriots'
first-half scoring with 10 points while Delaware's Dawson had 12 points to lead
all scorers.
The Patriots will embark on a
three-game road trip, beginning Wednesday night at Hofstra in a battle of two
of the CAA's three teams with unblemished records in conference play. The Pride
moved to 2-0 on Monday with a 75-69 victory at Drexel.
