RADFORD, Va. - Senior Mike Morrison posted his first
double-double of the season and the George Mason men's basketball team pulled
away from Radford, 76-61, on Saturday afternoon at the Dedmon Center. The
Patriots improved to 7-3 as they head into the final exam break, while the
Highlanders dropped to 3-8.
Morrison put up game highs of 17 points and 11
rebounds and was joined in double-figure scoring by classmate Ryan Pearson who
posted 14 points along with sophomore Bryon Allen who chipped in 11. Allen also
dished a game-high six assists while freshman Erik Copes swatted four shots.
R.J. Price had a team-high 15 points for the Highlanders, one of three RU
players in double digits.
Mason led early by as many as four, but RU
eventually erased the deficit at 14-all when Cerrah hit a jumper with 8:41
remaining in the half. The Patriots responded with an 11-2 run that included
seven unanswered, growing their lead to 25-16 after Morrison's bucket with just
over five minutes left in the first half.
The Patriot lead grew as large as 11 when Mason
pushed the score to 32-21 on Copes's third basket of the afternoon, but the
Highlanders closed out the first half on an 8-0 run, including a Cerrah layup
as the horn sounded to send the teams to the locker room at 32-29 in favor of
the visitors.
While both teams' first-half field goal
percentages were in the low 40's in the opening half, Mason dominated off the
glass, winning the rebounding battle by a 22-to-12 margin including 10-to-0 in
offensive boards.
Mason came out of the locker room red-hot,
hitting six of its first nine field goal attempts as the Patriots built a
double-digit lead, which grew as large as 20 points after a Vaughn Gray
3-pointer made it 60-40 with just under 12 minutes left. From there, RU could
get no closer than 11 from then on as the Patriots picked up the win.
Following a 10-day break for final exams, the
Patriots return to action on Wednesday, December 21 when they host Duquesne.
Tip time is set for 7 p.m. in a game that will be televised live on MASN.
