Boxscore

FAIRFAX, Va. -- George Mason used an 18-4 run to start the second half as the Patriots broke open a close game at the break and posted a 78-55 victory over Delaware in Colonial Athletic Association men’s basketball action Tuesday night at the Patriot Center.

Mason, which snapped a two-game losing streak to improve to 15-5 overall and 8-2 in the conference, led just 37-35 at the half. However the Patriots scored the first four points of the second period, and after a Jawan Carter basket cut the Mason advantage to 41-37, GMU scored eight consecutive points to take a 12-point lead with 16:06 left.

Delaware, which dropped its fourth straight road game while falling to 9-13 overall and 3-7 in league play, answered when Marc Egerson hit a jumper, but Mason countered with six straight points to go up 55-39 with 11:27 remaining and would lead by double figures the rest of the way. The Patriots used an 11-0 run to take their largest lead of the game at 72-48 with 4:31 to play.

Michael Morrison, who entered the game having scored seven points in the Patriots’ last seven games, led a balanced Mason attack with 14 points on 6 of 7 shooting from the field. Cam Long recorded his first career double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds while Louis Birdsong added 11 points and eight boards for the Patriots, who improved to 10-0 at home this season.

Dre Smith tied for the team lead with 14 points while Isaiah Tate was the fifth Patriot in double figures with 10 points for Mason, which was playing its second straight game without second leading scorer John Vaughan, who suffered a concussion last week.

Egerson (at right) recorded his league-leading 10th double-double of the season by posting game-highs of 20 points and 11 rebounds for the Blue Hens, while Alphonso Dawson added 11 points and four steals. Carter had 10 points and four assists for the Blue Hens, who lost for the seventh consecutive time at the Patriot Center.

Delaware exploded out of the gate, as a jumper by Dawson, a dunk by Jim Ledsome and a three-pointer by Egerson put the Blue Hens up 7-0 early and forced the Patriots to call a timeout. After Mason pulled within two, the Blue Hens answered with seven consecutive points to go up 16-9 on another Egerson triple with 14:34 on the clock.

Delaware, which scored 20 points in the entire first half during Saturday’s win over Georgia State, reached that total with 12:37 left in the opening half as a Dawson putback gave the Blue Hens a 20-11 advantage, but Mason scored 15 of the next 20 points and took its first lead of the game at 26-25 with 7:11 remaining on a Morrison basket.

The contest remained close the rest of the period, and the teams were tied at 34-34 before Long broke the deadlock with a three-pointer., A free throw by Adam Pegg in the final minute cut the Mason lead to 37-35 at the half.

However after shooting 46.9 percent in the first half, Delaware connected on just 7 of its 26 second half field goal attempts, including only 3 of 16 attempts from behind the arc.Meanwhile the Patriots shot 47.8 percent for the game and held a commanding 47-29 rebounding advantage, including 17 offensive boards.

“We were unable to get stops or make shots in the second half,” third-year Blue Hen head coach Monté Ross said. “We are a jump-shooting team, and they just didn’t go down for us in the second half. They were able to throw the ball inside and get layups in the second half but we weren’t able to do that, which was a big difference in the game.”