Feb. 24, 2010

Comments from head coach Jim Larranaga

Box Score

The George Mason men's basketball team used a 9-0 second-half run to pull ahead of Delaware and the Patriots survived some poor free throw shooting and a stagnant offense in the final four minutes by playing terrific defense down the stretch, beating the Blue Hens on the road, 61-59. The win, coupled with William & Mary and Northeastern's losses puts the Patriots in sole possession of third in the CAA, just one game out of second. It also clinches a first-round bye for the Patriots in next week's CAA Tournament.

Mason (17-12, 12-5) got 16 points from Andre Cornelius, 14 from Cam Long, 10 from Sherrod Wright and nine from Luke Hancock as the perimeter game carried the day. Mason shot better from the field but took fewer shots because of 32 attempts from the free throw line. Delaware (7-22, 3-14) stayed in the game because Mason struggled to shoot 50 percent from the charity stripe. The Blue Hens also had Jawan Carter, the second-leading scorer in the CAA. He finished with 25 points while Edwin Santiago had 11 and Alphonso Dawson had 10.

Delaware led for most of the first, first using a 6-0 run to turn a slim 18-17 lead into a seven-point margin. Mason closed to within two at 32-30 and twice had the ball with a chance to tie or take the lead. But Cornelius missed his first 3-pointer after making his first four and on the next possession, Mason turned the ball over. Delaware used the opportunity to close the half with an 8-2 run as Malcolm Hawkins scored all eight of his first-half points in the final 5:17 of the stanza.

In the second half, Delaware led 45-40 when Mason got a basket inside from Mike Morrison, two free throws from Cornelius, a basket in the paint from Louis Birdsong and a 3-pointer from Wright to go ahead 49-45. The Patriots went up by as many as seven, 54-47, but the final 8:20 saw just one Mason basket, an alley-oop from Hancock to Morrison. Mason was just 3 of 8 from the free throw line in the final five minutes which allowed Delaware to get to within one with 1:41 to go. The Blue Hens missed five shots in the final two minutes that would have given them the lead.