NORFOLK, Va. - The
George Mason men's basketball team got within one possession in the final 20
seconds of the game but was unable to net the game-winning score as the
Patriots were edged by Old Dominion, 69-65, in Colonial Athletic Association
action on Saturday afternoon before 8,344 fans at the Constant Center. The loss
drops the Patriots to 2-2 in CAA play and 10-5 overall, while the Monarchs, the
league's defending champion, improved to 12-3 (3-1 CAA).
Senior Cam Long scored a
season-high 23 points on 9-of-14 shooting to lead three Patriots in double
figures, as junior Ryan Pearson and sophomore Luke Hancock each chipped in 13
points. Frank Hassell scored 18 points to lead a quartet of Monarchs in double
digits. Going up against the nation's fourth-best rebounding squad, the
Patriots pulled down 31 boards compared to 35 for the Monarchs, but the home
team outscored Mason 23-8 on second chance opportunities.
Mason led 5-2 early on, and
continued to hold the advantage until James's 3-pointer at the 17:19 mark put
the Monarchs ahead, 7-5. Hancock's layup tied the score, but the Monarchs went
on to lead by as many as three before Long's trey tied the score once again at
14, part of an 8-0 run which put the Patriots ahead, 19-14. ODU erased that margin with an 8-0 run of
their own. The one-sided scoring returned to Mason, on a 6-0 spree which
returned the advantage to the Green and Gold.
The Monarchs twice tied the
score, including at 30 where it stayed for nearly a minute and a half, before a
pair of free throws and a Finney layup made it 34-30 in favor of ODU which
ended up as the halftime score. Long accounted for half of the Patriot scoring
including a 3-for-3 performance from beyond the arc.
ODU increased its lead to
39-32 in the fledgling moments of the second half, but the Patriots whittled
the advantage away, regaining the lead at 43-42 on a layup by Tate with 14:21
showing on the clock. That was part of an 11-3 run which stretched more than
five minutes. Three more times the lead changed hands before a 12-4 run by the
Monarchs made it 54-47with under eight minutes to go.
Mason continued to trail for until
the final two minutes, cutting it to 63-62 with 2:41 remaining when Pearson
drained a 3-pointer and then tying the score at 65 on Long's fourth trey. After
a bucket by Hassell, the Monarchs went ahead 67-65. Scoreless for the next 1:18
seconds, the Patriots had the ball with under 20 seconds to go and a Andre Cornelius
3-point attempt from the top of the key hit back iron. Hassell was fouled after
the ODU rebound and sank both attempts of a one-and-one to hold off the
Patriots in the four-point victory.
Mason will look to notch its
first road conference victory on Wednesday night when they close out the
three-game trip at Northeastern, a 7 p.m. tilt.
