Photo courtesy Craig Bisacre, Creative Services/George Mason University

RICHMOND, Va. - The George Mason men's basketball team rallied to within two possessions late, but could not overcome an early deficit as the second-seeded VCU Rams eliminated the No. 3 Patriots, 74-64, in the semifinal round of the 2012 Virginia 529 CAA Championship. The Patriots await their postseason fate with a record of 24-9, while the Rams (27-6) move on to face top seed Drexel in the championship Monday night.

Senior Mike Morrison paced the Patriots throughout the game, posting a double-double of 20 points and 11 rebounds and adding a game-high four blocks. Joining him with his first career double-double was sophomore Jonathan Arledge, adding a career-high 11 rebounds and 10 points. Senior Andre Cornelius also reached double figures, chipping in 15 points. Bradford Burgess led four Rams in double-digit scoring with 20 points including five 3-pointers.

The Patriots could not get their offense going in the early minutes, as the Rams held them off the scoreboard for more than six and a half minutes. In that time, VCU built a 22-0 lead as Mason was prone to turnovers and missed its first six shot attempts. The Rams led by as many as 28 at 32-4, but the Patriots slowly gained momentum, including a 12-2 run over the final five minutes of the first half.

VCU led 48-32 at the half, and Morrison paced the offense with 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting, including scoring the final 10 of the opening half for the Patriots. His six rebounds paced a Mason effort that outrebounded VCU, 22-11 in the first half. Mason was plagued by turnovers though, committing 12 to VCU's one, in turn leading to 17 Ram points.

Mason slowly chipped away at the lead into the second half, eventually getting within single digits when Cornelius's 3-pointer made it 59-50 at the 9:16 mark. It got down to six after two of Morrison's free throws left the score 64-58 with 3:12 to go. At the one-minute mark, Cornelius offset a pair of Rob Brandenburg free throws with a layup, but Mason got no closer as the Rams scored eight of the final 12 points.

The loss marked the third straight year that the Rams eliminated the Patriots in the CAA Championship, where Mason has won at least one game in six of the last seven tournaments.