George Mason Snaps Delaware's Three-Game Win Streak with 69-49 Men's Basketball Victory
January 24, 2011
Photo Courtesy of Chris Mlynarczyk
• Boxscore
NEWARK, Del. -- The momentum of a three-game win streak wore off quickly for the University of Delaware men's basketball squad Monday night as the Blue Hens went nearly 10 minutes without a point during one stretch and George Mason took advantage to post a 69-49 Colonial Athletic Association victory at the Bob Carpenter Center.
George Mason (15-5, 7-4 CAA) won its fifth straight game as Cam Long scored a game-high 20 points, Ryan Pearson added 13 points, and Luke Hancock chipped in with 12 markers. Long, Mason’s leading scorer at 15.3 points per game, was coming off a 30-point effort in a 74-72 win over James Madison Saturday.
Delaware (10-9, 5-4 CAA), riding its longest conference win streak since the 2007-08 season, fell behind 32-20 at the half and was held scoreless for the first six minutes of the second half as George Mason pulled away. The Patriots, who downed the Hens 75-66 back on Jan. 3 in Fairfax, Va., extended their win streak to four straight over Delaware.
Freshman guard Devon Saddler (at right) led the Blue Hens with 15 points and Josh Brinkley pulled down a career-high 13 rebounds, but UD’s leading scorer Jawan Carter, who entered the game averaging 16.3 points per game, was held scoreless for the first time in his 82-game career for Delaware. He was hounded all night by the suffocating Mason defense and was able to get just three shots off - all three-pointers - in 26 minutes of action.
"Our effort and energy was there tonight, we just didn't make shots," said Delaware head coach Monté Ross. "When you shoot 26 percent (8 for 31) from the field and 9 percent (1 for 11) from three-point range in a half, you are not going to win many games. We missed a lot of layups and everything kind of snowballed on us."
As team, Delaware converted 17 of 56 shots from the field (30.4 percent) for the game and hit just 5 of 19 shots from beyond the three-point arc.
The Blue Hens lost for just the second time in seven home games this season and for the first time since Dec. 22. Delaware had reeled off consecutive wins of 66-63 over Towson, 54-52 over Northeastern, and 64-62 against Georgia State entering the game, extending the Hens’ longest win streak since winning five straight league games in 2007-08. The wins over Towson and Georgia State both came on three-pointers at the buzzer with Saddler hitting the winning shot vs. Towson and Carter the game-winning triple vs. GSU just two days ago.
Despite hitting just 1 of their first 11 shots from the field, Delaware stayed closed and trailed just 23-20 with 3:35 left in the first half on a jumper by Alphonso Dawson. But George Mason reeled off the last nine points of the stanza, including a tip-in by Hancock just before the buzzer, to take a 32-20 lead at the break.
The Patriots then outscored the Hens 9-0 to open the second half, capping the run on a three-pointer by Long. When Delaware's Brian Johnson finally broke the ice with a jumper with 13:55 left, Mason had outscored the Hens 18-0 over a span of 9:40 and built a 41-22 lead. Delaware never got closer than 19 points the rest of the way as Mason went up by as many as 27 points at 64-37 with 2:52 remaining.
Delaware will continue a busy week Wednesday when the Hens travel to William & Mary before returning home to host James Madison Saturday at 4 p.m. at the Bob Carpenter Center.
