FAIRFAX, Va. - The George
Mason men's basketball team withstood a furious charge late to hold off Georgia
State, 61-58, in Colonial Athletic Association action Saturday evening at the
Patriot Center. The win gives Mason (12-4, 4-0 CAA) sole possession of first
place in the conference standings while snapping GSU's 11-game winning streak,
as the Panthers dropped to 11-4 and 3-1 in league play.
Senior Mike
Morrison posted a double-double with a career-high 15 rebounds and 14 points, while
redshirt sophomore Vertrail Vaughns scored a team-high 17 points while senior
Ryan Pearson contributed 10 points, all of which coming from the free throw
line. Jihad Ali led a trio of Panthers in double-figure scoring with 19 points.
After
Vaughns hit the game's opening points on a 3-pointer, a 7-0 run by the Panthers
gave them a two-possession lead with five minutes elapsed. GSU held that lead
until the 12:11 mark when senior Andre Cornelius's two free throws tied the
score at 11. The Panthers would again go up four, but the Patriots took the
lead after an Allen 3-point play made it 24-21. Morrison followed that up with
an emphatic two-handed dunk off a baseball-pass assist from sophomore Bryon Allen,
forcing GSU's first timeout as the visitors trailed 26-21 and concluding an 8-0
Mason run.
The Mason lead grew to eight at 31-23 which would stand as the halftime margin,
as the Patriots closed out the first half on a 13-2 run. GSU was held scoreless
for nearly all of the final four minutes, as Mason was led by 11 points from
Vaughns.
GSU had a hot start to the second half, scoring the first eight points to erase
Mason's halftime lead. Mason stopped the run with five in a row to take a 36-31
advantage. That was part of a larger 11-3 scoring stretch which pushed
the Mason lead to 42-34. The Panthers worked that margin down to two points and
a 3-pointer by James Fields with five minutes to go returned the lead to GSU,
47-46.
A pair of free throws by Pearson switched the advantage, but Ali matched it at
the 2:45 mark with a pair from the stripe. Two more free throws by Pearson made
it 50-49 Mason, and Buckner evened the score when he connected on one of two
from the free throw line.
Pearson hit two more to give the Patriots a 52-50 lead, which was cut in half
by Fields when he sank the second of two free throws with 1:29 left. Morrison
put back a missed shot with 52 seconds left to increase the lead to 54-51.
Fields had a layup chance but was whistled for the charge in the lane, giving
the ball back to the Patriots with 38 seconds remaining.
Two more free throws by Pearson made it a two-possession difference, but a dunk
by Eric Buckner left the score at 56-53. Again, Mason found its answer at the
free throw line, as Allen drained a pair while Cornelius added one to leave the
score 59-53. A 3-pointer by Devonta White again moved the Panthers within
three, but Vaughns connected twice with 4.3 seconds left to seal the win.
Buckner added a dunk as the final horn sounded to set the final score.
Mason will
look to make it five straight wins as they next travel to preseason CAA
favorite Drexel. Tip time from Philadelphia is set for Thursday at 8 p.m., a
game that will be televised live on ESPNU.
