Patriots retain first place in the CAA These are the dog days for the George Mason basketball team. Monday night the Patriots played their second of three games in a span of five days. They also were in the middle of a seven-game stretch against teams with losing records.
With a 9 p.m. start Monday at Patriot Center, a sparse crowd greeted George Mason for its game with UNC Wilmington. As the visitors gathered in a tunnel, one of the Seahawks pounded a ball on the cement and exhorted, “Let’s get hyped.”
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It was clear in this game that motivation would have to come from within. It was George Mason who found it before and after intermission, scoring 15 straight points. On a night when the Patriots trailed by seven in the first half, the run catapulted George Mason to a 67-61 victory.
In winning its fourth straight, George Mason (16-5, 8-1) retained its hold on first place in the CAA behind senior forward Ryan Pearson (20 points, 12 rebounds) and a defense that limited UNCW to 35.9 percent shooting.
Pearson and the defense were the key elements as George Mason turned a 20-13 deficit late in the first half into a 32-22 lead early in the second. During the 19-2 run, Pearson scored 12 points, including eight on fast-break dunks, all of which came off UNCW errors. In all, George Mason scored 19 points off turnovers.
“He basically just told us to get after these guys,” Pearson said of the halftime instructions from coach Paul Hewitt. “We try to jump on guys in the first five minutes and establish ourselves.”
The Patriots took their biggest lead at 40-28 before UNCW guard Adam Smith led a rally. After missing his first eight shots and failing to score in the first 24 minutes, the freshman tallied 15 points. UNCW (8-11, 4-5) pulled to within a point at 44-43 as Donte Morales scored on a fast-break layin.
“We put a pretty good punch on them at the start of the second half,” Hewitt said. “But they battled right back into the game.”
But George Mason regained control as sophomore guard Bryon Allen (17 points) muscled for a three-point-play and added three more baskets in the final seven minutes. He finished 7-for-10 from the floor.
“When I saw the tape of him last week I asked my assistant, ‘Who is this?'” UNCW coach Buzz Peterson said of Allen. “I like his size. He goes to the goal strong.”
George Mason had difficulty securing the game as it missed 15 of 16 shots from beyond the arc. The victory wasn’t assured until senior Mike Morrison (six points, 10 rebounds, three blocks) slammed an Allen miss through the hoop with 32 seconds left for a 65-58 lead.
Morrison had a big role, playing UNCW’s top scorer and rebounder, 6-7 Keith Rendleman (seven points, eight rebounds), to a stalemate. Sophomore Jonathan Arledge (nine points, five rebounds) also contributed as Mason scored a whopping 44 points in the paint to 14 for UNCW.
“Mason has always done a good job on Rendleman,” Peterson said. “He couldn’t get around Morrison.”
