TOWSON, Md. - All five George Mason men's basketball starters reached double-figure scoring as the Patriots won their Colonial Athletic Association opener, a 65-53 win at Towson on Saturday evening. Mason (6-2, 1-0 CAA) won its fourth straight contest, while the Tigers dropped to 0-7 (0-1 CAA).

Seniors Ryan Pearson and Mike Morrison each chipped in 14 points to lead the Mason offense, while sophomores Vertrail Vaughns, Sherrod Wright and Bryon Allen posted 12, 11 and 10 points respectively. Marcus Damas led all scorers with 25 points. Morrison also had eight rebounds to lead all players, spearheading a 41-to-26 advantage for the Patriots off the glass.

Mason came charging out of the opening tap, scoring the first points on a Vaughns 3-point play and answering a Deon Jones trey with 10 unanswered points. That made the score 13-3 with just over four minutes expired, and the Patriots went on to lead by as many as 14 in the opening stanza. The Tigers made a push, though, cutting their deficit to 24-17 as they held the Patriots off the board for nearly three minutes.

The Patriots pushed the lead back to double figures, but Damas cut it to 32-26 on a pair of free throws with 3:21 left. Pearson's second 3-pointer made it 39-29 inside of two minutes, but a Damas layup at the 1:11 mark would set the eventual halftime score at 39-31.

While the Patriots never trailed in the final 20 minutes, the Tigers were able to keep the game within reach for most of the second half. TU cut it to six points just over six minutes into the period at 46-40, but Mason expanded the advantage back to 13. With 3:13 left, Damas drained a 3-pointer to cut it to 56-51, but the Patriots closed out the game on a 9-2 run to secure the victory, remaining undefeated in CAA play against the Tigers.

Mason returns to non-conference play on Tuesday, traveling to in-state foe Virginia. Tip off from John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville is set for 7 p.m.