The past few days seemed like last year’s Final Four run for the Patriots, who nearly won the Colonial Athletic Association title as a No. 6 seed. Virginia Commonwealth’s Eric Maynor is primarily responsible for keeping them from returning to the NCAA Tournament, but the NIT likely awaits.
Q Do you enjoy the CAA tournament? You must’ve been able to derive some satisfaction after the Patriots’ up-and-down regular season.
A I certainly enjoyed the way we played, and for 158 of 160 minutes, we played tremendous basketball. For two minutes, one player, Eric Maynor of VCU, took over the championship.
When we had a five-point lead with two minutes to go, all I could think about was being the championship team and cutting down the nets. It’s bittersweet. We’re very proud of the way our guys played, especially under the conditions. We played four straight nights and beat two of the top three teams in the conference. We were on the brink of beating No. 1 until Maynor took over.
Q Gabe Norwood, the only George Mason senior who contributes significant minutes, had an outstanding tournament, including 10 points, four rebounds and two blocks in the final.
A Gabe really felt the obligation to give it everything he had, knowing that this was his last chance to go out on top. He’s played in more basketball games at George Mason than any player in the history of the school, and he won the Dean Ehlers Leadership Award, the most prestigious award that the conference gives. I think his personality and his camaraderie with his teammates will be what we miss the most.
Q ESPN analyst Jimmy Dykes talked about you having music going throughout the weekend, whether it was in the hotel or during shoot around. Why?
A From a player’s standpoint, it’s hard to muster the energy on your own. You need everybody to create the atmosphere. We try to help them by adding music to things we do. We do it in the locker room before the game to help the guys stay loose, have fun and be enthusiastic. That energy has a snowball effect, and as the tournament progressed, you could see it.
I don’t think we lost because it was our fourth game in four nights. I thought we played with tremendous energy. Our defense in the second half was tremendous — they did not hit a 3-pointer — and that takes effort.
What you can’t ever explain — there’s no statistical category for a performance like Eric Maynor’s, where his team is down five with two minutes, and we have a fast break. If we score on that fast break and go up seven or eight, there’s a good chance that game is over. Hesteals the ball, converts it into a 3-point play, and then steals it again on the next one and makes a lay-up to tie the game all by himself. He did that against us when we had the ball. It’s not like he made two big 3-pointers. He just stole the ball right off our dribbler.
— As told to The Examiner’s Craig Stouffer
