FAIRFAX, Va. - Redshirt junior Sherrod Wright scored 19 points on 70
percent field goal shooting, but the Georgia State Panthers used a first half
run to fuel a 78-60 Colonial Athletic Association victory over the George Mason
men's basketball team on Saturday afternoon. In front of a homecoming crowd of
8,010 at the Patriot Center, Mason dropped to 8-6 in CAA play and 15-11
overall, while the Panthers improved to 13-15 (9-6 CAA) in the two teams' final
conference matchup.
Wright was one of two double-digit scorers for the Patriots,
as freshman Marko Gujanicic adde 10 points while sophomore Erik Copes had a
team-high six rebounds. For GSU, which shot 53.7 percent from the field
compared to a 42.6 percent mark for Mason, R.J. Hunter led the way with 25
points while Devonta White added 23 and Manny Atkins posted a double-double of
14 points and 10 rebounds.
Mason scored the first five points of the game and led by as
many as six in the first seven and a half minutes, as Wright hit his fourth
3-pointer in as many tries to make the score 19-13. Georgia State answered with
a 7-0 run for their first lead of the game, on a dunk by Markus Crider which
made it 20-19 Panthers with 9:52 to play.
Mason led at 24-22 after Wright's jumper at the 9:04 mark,
but the Panthers embarked on a 16-0 run that took just over two and a half
minutes, and put them ahead 38-24. The lead stretched to 18 points in the
period before heading to the half with a 51-36 score.
Wright saw 15 of his total points come in the first half
while White and Hunter each chipped in 14 points, as GSU shot a blistering 62.1
percent in the half including a 7-of-11 mark from beyond the 3-point arc.
Georgia State extended its lead as large as 27 midway
through the second half, before the Patriots closed the half outscoring the
Panthers 14-7. The two teams are not scheduled to meet again, as GSU will move
to the Sun Belt Conference for the 2013-14 season.
Next up for the Patriots is a trip to Hempstead, N.Y., where
they face Hofstra on Tuesday night at 7 p.m.
