Mason 77, Northern Iowa 82

The Patriots have developed a knack for close games.

Stephen Kline/Courtside Seats

In their fourth loss of the young season, Mason pushed the Northern Iowa Panthers to the brink but fell short in overtime.

“It was a really good game,” Paul Hewitt said. “It was a fun game to be a part of. Obviously we’re disappointed that we lost, but it was a really well played game on both sides.”

Paced by another outstanding offensive effort from Sherrod Wright, the Patriots put together one of their best offensive performances of the season. Wright was an efficient 7-for-10 from the field for 20 points while Mason finished 27-for-56 (48.2 percent) on two-point field goals. Bryon Allen, who played his second game off the bench for the Patriots, scored 13 points on 5-for-8 shooting while his point guard counterpart Corey Edwards shot 3-for-4 for eight points and three assists.

The Patriots started slowly, falling behind 10-0 before Edwards rattled off five quick points for the Patriots.

“I thought we could battle back,” Hewitt said. “I thought our pressure could get us back in it and it did. But it came down to an execution game at the end.”

“Our press can look like that,” Hewitt said. “This is the first time we’ve really gone all out with it, but it will keep getting better.”

Despite losing Erik Copes, who fouled out with more than six minutes remaining in the game, Mason held a significant difference in the rebounding battle, pulling down a 34-27 advantage on the glass. Anali Okoloji led the way with seven rebounds while Wright and Copes contributed five boards apiece.

In the waning minutes, the Patriots fumbled two key possessions. They were unable to get a shot off with 10 seconds remaining in the second half and, in similar fashion, turned the ball over and did not give themselves an opportunity to tie the game at 80.

“We wanted to try to get Bryon in the middle of the floor with a ball screen,” Hewitt said. “We felt like we had some success there. I didn’t explain it clearly enough and we didn’t execute, but that falls on me.”

The Patriots will break for two weeks for final exams before taking the floor again on Saturday, Dec. 22 at 3 p.m. against Richmond in Governor’s Holiday Hoops Classic.

Stephen Kline/Courtside Seats

Paul Hewitt certainly was not pleased.

With time winding down on an otherwise sloppy game, Bryon Allen drove to the basket and sank an up-and-under layup with 0.2 seconds left to lift the Patriots to a three-point victory over the Boston Terriers.

Allen, along with the Patriots, had a tough shooting night as the junior guard finished 3-for-7 with seven points. Mason, overall, finished a combined 20-for-55 (36.4 percent) from the field.

“I was just trying to penetrate and get something,” Allen said. “I was looking for the kick but, once I did the spin move, I saw nobody was near me and went up with the layup.”

Boston led for a majority of the final eight minutes of the contest, jumping ahead by four points with less than three minutes to play, but the Patriots showed resiliency before staging a successful comeback in the closing seconds.

Postgame Show: Courtside Seats Postgame Show

“I was baffled by the whole game,” Hewitt said. “We have a lot of teams that come in our building and push us around. But you get a feel for teams when you do your pregame talks, you watch and look at their faces, but no matter what we tried to do or say, we just weren’t ready to compete.”

Johnny Williams was the only Patriot in double-figures, shooting 5-for-11 from the floor with 10 points to go along with eight rebounds and Sherrod Wright contributed nine points and team-high nine rebounds.

With the victory, the Patriots improved to 4-2 (0-0) while the Terriers remained winless, dropping to 0-5 in a hard-fought loss.

“When we pass the ball, we’re good,” “When we don’t pass the ball, we’re bad. This one was bad.”

The Patriots will travel to Rhode Island on Wednesday night at 8 p.m. before returning home to face Maryland at the Verizon Center on Dec. 2 at 2:30 p.m. in the BB&T Classic.

Mason Athletics

The transition from high school to college can be an intimidating experience for all students. College life requires more self-discipline and self-control which, at times, is difficult to balance in a student’s first time away from home.

Student-athletes, who experience all of those same dilemmas, have all of those issues magnified by the prospect of competing at a high level in their respective sports. More time, energy and practice is required at the college level and, at times, student-athletes fail to take extra time to meet the demands of their bodies.

The Center  for Sports Performance promotes a multidisciplinary approach to assist  the student-athletes’ physical development for  athletic competition and lifetime health. At Mason, the sports dietitian supports athletes in reaching their full potential through individual assessment, counseling in proper fueling and hydration for positive sports performance results.

On Monday, Nov. 19 at 7:30 p.m., the Mason Athletic Department will host a ribbon-cutting ceremony to introduce the newest initiative from the Center for Sports Performance: Peak Performance, a sports specific dining experience at Southside Dining Hall. All meals at Peak Performance, planned by the sports dietician, are tailored to meet the demands of an elite athlete.

Mason Athletics offers a variety of Sports Nutrition Services for varsity student-athletes, including individual counseling (nutrition assessment, healthy meal and snack options for athlete’s sports specific needs), small group presentations (proper fueling and hydration strategies for pre-during-post exercises) and team presentations (eating on the road, anti-inflammatory foods and other sports specific topics).

For more information about the performance nutrition programs at Mason visit GoMason.com.

C> Obviously you can’t put too much weight in exhibition games but, on the same note, we played stellar. The performance that we had against Bowie State was just subpar. It was kind of us going through the motions but, tonight, we came out with some incredible energy. The crowd was fantastic, a sold out crowd of 9,840 fans. It was amazing. How many points do you think the crowd gave us tonight?

D> Honestly, I’m giving all 63 to the crowd. I think the crowd played such a factor in this game, as they do in every game. They were up the whole time. I don’t think I’ve ever gotten the chills as much as I did tonight. The pregame video that they played to get everyone hyped that ended in Sherrod’s shot that did it for me. I got the chills. It was done from there. I was hooked.

D> This is how you’re supposed to come out to start a season. I hear a lot of people joking that we took Bowie State to the wire and we beat uva in this fashion. I’m not sure how this quick transition works in two weeks

C> Obviously you can’t put too much weight in exhibition games but, on the same note, we played stellar. The performance that we had against Bowie State was just subpar. It was kind of us going through the motions but, tonight, we came out with some incredible energy. The crowd was fantastic, a sold out crowd of 9,840 fans. It was amazing. How many points do you think the crowd gave us tonight?

D> Honestly, I’m giving all 63 to the crowd. I think the crowd played such a factor in this game, as they do in every game. They were up the whole time. I don’t think I’ve ever gotten the chills as much as I did tonight. The pregame video that they played to get everyone hyped that ended in Sherrod’s shot that did it for me. I got the chills. It was done from there. I was hooked.

C> I’m not sure I’m going quite as high as all 63. Coach Hewitt always mentions that 5, 6 or 7 points – something like that – he can attribute to the Green Machine and how great the Green Machine is. Of course, tonight they were fabulous. I don’t think I’m giving 63 points total to the crowd, but another 5 or 6 points for a total of 12 points or so, I think, is what the crowd gave us tonight in a four point victory.

D> In all seriousness, I think you are right. It’s probably around 9 or 10 points. I think you really saw it when UVA was on the line. They got as loud as they could get at that point and Especially on the intentional foul, which was a little questionable from my standpoint. But he missed both free throws, which was huge for us. And then on Bryon Allen’s 3-pointers, you know how Mason fans throw the paper up? I thought it was raining paper from the rafters, that’s how much was coming down. That is where I really saw the crowd making an impact.

C> Of course, Coach Cody, I like to step back and look at the defense and rebounding. To me, the crowd made the biggest impact on the defensive end in the full court press. We were down four points at one point early to mid-second half, and the crowd really took over and then the defense really took over. We got two consecutive steals, four straight points to tie the game back up and eventually take the lead using that momentum.

D> Is this the best crowd you’ve seen since you’ve been here? I know that’s a blanket statement and I know that’s a tough question – I’m putting you on the spot – but is this the best crowd you’ve seen?

C> It is certainly the best crowd I’ve seen on opening day. It rivals last year’s vcu game, but we’ve had some other great games here too.

D> Well, the atmosphere has to rival the VCU game. You can’t imitate the effect that they had when Sherrod Wright hit that shot, but the general atmosphere was similar to the VCU game.

C> The crowd was definitely loud, they were on their feet for 40 minutes tonight. They were absolutely phenomenal, so way to go Patriots.

With seconds remaining on the shot clock and the game knotted at 57, junior Bryon Allen pulled up on the right wing and drained a contested 3-pointer.

Stephen Kline/Courtside Seats

In a game that played witness to 16 lead changes, the big  shot from Allen with under a minute remaining gave the Patriots the final lead of the ballgame, propelling them to a 63-59 victory over big brother institution, the University of Virginia.

“That’s a great way to start the season,” said coach Paul Hewitt, who is in his second season as coach of the Patriots.

Though a back injury kept him sidelined for two weeks leading up to the season, forcing him to miss both exhibition games, Allen earned the start over sophomore Corey Edwards and emerged as the leader for a team without any true seniors. In his first time back out on the floor in  a game situation since the injury, Allen racked up 32 minutes of playing time, tallying 13 points and handing out five assists.

“For him to play all those minutes after sitting out two full weeks, that says a lot about his toughness,” Hewitt said.

Without last season’s leaders, Mike Morrison and Ryan Pearson, the Patriots were in search of a go-to player down the stretch and Allen, who scored seven points in the  final  two minutes of the game, knew all along he had to be that guy.

“I planned on [taking over] from the start,” Allen said. “For our team to win, I knew I was going to have to play big. I wanted to make them adjust to my pace, so it wasn’t me adjusting to their pace.”

Both Allen and Edwards struggled mightily last season, their first full season of significant playing time, and contributed to a 15.2 turnovers per game clip. Both point guards – even Edwards, in his limited minutes – did a much better job controlling the pace of  the game for the Patriots, who committed just 10 turnovers on the evening.

“We’re a lot better team than we were last year, even though we had the Player of the Year [Ryan Pearson],” Allen said. “We know we can compete with anybody, as long as we don’t turn the ball over.”

Playing a lot of minutes in his first appearance for the Patriots, freshman Marko Gujanicic contributed six points and seven rebounds off the bench for Hewitt. Gujancic emerged as a player to watch after leading the team in scoring in the Patriots’ first exhibition victory against Bowie State.

“[Marko]’s the most skilled player, I think, on our team in terms of passing, shooting and ball handling,” Hewitt said. “And he also has a lot of experience. He’s not your average freshman.”

Redshirt juniors Johnny Williams and Sherrod Wright, along with redshirt sophomore Anali Okoloji, contributed very strong performances to the winning effort.

Gallery: Patriots 63, Cavaliers 59

Postgame Show: Courtside Seats Postgame Show

Williams, who led the team in minutes, scored 11 points and came away with three steals in his first action following a medical redshirt last season while Wright led the Patriots with 15 points on six of nine shooting. Okoloji turned in a modest eight points and four rebounds but set the tone on the defensive end and served as the emotional leader for Hewitt’s team.

Although they escaped with the victory, the Patriots were unable to capitalize on their frequent trip to the free throw line, as poor free throw shooting kept the Cavaliers within striking  distance throughout the night. Wright, who was an 85 percent shooter last season, was just one-for-five from the stripe and the team only connected on eight of 19 attempts.

“We’ve been really practicing free throws,” said Gujanicic, who was 0-for-4 from theline. “We shoot a lot of free throws everyday and we have to make a certain percentage. Tonight, I’m not sure what happened. We’ll make sure that doesn’t happen in the future.”

Despite their struggles from the charity stripe, Mason showed great resiliency and did not allow missed free throws to serve as an excuse. Along with Allen, Williams and Gujanicic knocked down some big shots in key moments to propel the Patriots to victory.

Though a win against ACC competitor UVA may play a role in possible postseason  destinations, Hewitt and the Patriots are not thinking ahead and turn their focus to Tuesday night’s matchup with the Bucknell Bison.

“We’ve got to go on the road and play a tough Bucknell team that just beat Purdue,” Hewitt said. “That’s what resonates right now.”

*Bill Rohland will have the call live on WGMURadio.com and GoMason.com for the 7 p.m. tip-off

Copes was expected to start at center this season. He averaged 3.3 points and 3.7 rebounds per game as a freshman, but he contributed 13 points and two rebounds in the Patriots’ exhibition game against Bowie State. Gray, who appeared in all but one game last season, was likely slated to play a major role off the bench for Paul Hewitt this season. Though they are suspended, both players will be allowed to practice with the team throughout their suspension. They will not dress for games.

Copes and Gray will return to action in the second game of a three-game tournament in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands.

Stephen Kline/Courtside Seats

Marko Gujanicic does not look like a freshman. At six feet-eight inches, Gujanicic does not play like one either.

In his first game for the Patriots, Gujanicic came off the bench and led the team in scoring with 16 points. His defensive energy and offensive skill-set, seemingly incomparable to any other freshman in recent history, marveled the crowd and kept Mason within striking distance in the first half, even despite rather uncharacteristically poor perimeter shooting.

“In terms of high pressure situations, he has about seen it all,” Paul Hewitt said.

Though he is not known particularly for his offensive production, the Patriots played a good chunk of the closing possessions through Erik Copes. On many of those possessions, Copes responded and allowed the Patriots to escape with a 76-72 advantage.

The 6-foot-8-inch sophomore, who played limited minutes behind Mike Morrison and Ryan Pearson last season, scored seven consecutive points down the stretch and filled the stat sheet with 13 points, four rebounds, three assists and three steals.

“[Erik] and Marko are really strong around the basket with the ball,” Hewitt said. “It’s not a secret that we have a core of big guys that can score.”

In his first time on the floor in a Patriots uniform, Anali Okoloji impressed Hewitt with his tenacity on the defensive end. Okoloji, who earned a starting spot in the game, scored 11 points. Jonathan Arledge turned in an impressive 10-point performance and Vertrail Vaughns rounded out the set of five Patriots in double-figures with a 12-point effort on an efficient 5-for-7 from the floor. In the absence of Bryon Allen (back), Vaughns was forced to handle the ball more often than usual and, as Mason’s top distance shooter, did not attempt a 3-pointer in the game.

After recording a turnover rate of 15.2 per game last season, the Patriots continued their struggles taking care of the basketball, turning the ball over 19 times. They did, however, record 27 takeaways and limited the Bulldogs to just nine points off turnovers.

“Nineteen turnovers is still too many turnovers,“ Hewitt said. “We’re going to find, when we watch the tape, that a lot of those turnovers came because we were not strong coming to the ball.

The Patriots were without Preseason All-CAA selection Sherrod Wright who was suspended for violating athletic department rules.

“As college kids do, [Sherrod] did something not very intelligent this summer,” Hewitt said. “We took necessary action, but he’ll be back.”

Both Allen and Wright are expected to return when the Patriots take the floor in their season-opener on Nov. 9 against UVA.

UPPER MARLBORO, Md. — As Amber Easter walked off the court she felt the hand of a stranger on her back.

It was James Madison coach Kenny Brooks.  What he said we may never know, but the reasoning behind his comforting act was warranted.

Plagued by turnovers all night Mason lost in the quarterfinals to second seeded JMU by a final score of 64-54 at the Colonial Athletic Association Championships in Upper Marlboro, Maryland.  Easter who finished with 11 points in the game, committed a team high 7 turnovers.

“We didn’t do everything right,” said coach Jeri Porter. “We turned the ball over and missed a lot of shots.”

With less than six minutes to play in the second half JMU went on a 10-0 run to put the game away for good. Senior guard Taleia Moton would try to spark a Mason run, but her valiant effort was too late.

“They made plays and we didn’t,” Porter said. “There isn’t really a one thing that gave them the advantage in the last few minutes of the game.”

Moton finished the game with 22 points, making her the fastest player in Patriots history to reach the 1,000 point mark – a historic night for the guard lost in a moment of disappointment.

The first half was a battle full of ties and lead changes.

After trailing for the first 15 minutes of play, Mason took the lead as Moton split the defenders for a layup.  JMU would counter to tie the score at 22 on a Crystal Ross jumper.

But the Patriots ended the half from the line connecting on multiple foul shots to lead by four.

This was the first time since 2009 that Mason held a halftime lead over the Dukes and, according to Porter, it is the little things that are worth building on.

“We took a step forward this year,” Porter said. “Hopefully it will create a foundation for next season.”

JMU opened the second half on a 16-5 run using stout zone defense to pressure Mason into sloppy play.  The Patriots, who had 12 points in the paint during the first half, were forced to shoot jumpers because of the defensive change.

“They came out in a zone,” assistant coach Jana Ashley said. “We stopped penetrating like we were in the first half.  It changed our game.”

A Taleia Moton 3-pointer would cut the lead to four with just under seven minutes to play.

But JMU continued their defensive onslaught, as a Tarik Hislop steal led to an offensive break out. Hislop finished the game with six steals to pace the Dukes’ defensive front.

“I had hope we could win the basketball game,” Brooks said. “I said to Tarik, ‘It starts with you.’”

It started and ended with Hislop, who hit four straight shots from the line to send Mason packing.

UPPER MARLBORO, Md. — It only took six years.

After getting bounced from the CAA tournament in the first round the last 5 years, Mason was out to change their fortunes.

Riding a late rally in the second half Mason pulled away from Northeastern for their first win in the CAA Women’s Basketball Championships since 2006 by a final score of 70-60.  The win helps prove that this program is on the upswing, led by coach Jeri Porter and her recruiting class anchored by junior Amber Easter.

“It feels good to get a win.  But we know, we have to get right back at it tomorrow.  There is no sitting around,” said assistant coach Greg Pulliam.

In a game that featured 15 lead changes, Mason saved their best for last.

With the score tied at 57 and fewer than seven minutes to play, the Patriots went on a 13-3 run sparked by a Janaa Pickard jumper.  Pickard, who failed to score in the first half, scored all ten of her points in the final frame.

When asked about the run over the last few minutes of the contest, Amber Easter responded “We came together and said we need to play basketball.  We wanted to see tomorrow.”

Easter would lead all Patriot scorers finishing the game with her 4^th double-double in her last seven games.  She had 22 points to go along with 13 rebounds, as her hustle late in the second half proved vital to the victory.

The first half was a seesaw, neither team could apply enough pressure to get an edge. After trailing by seven to start the first half coach Porter went to her bench for some support.  A Taleia Moton 3-pointer would give the Patriots their first lead of the game. Each team would trade blows, until a Christine Huber layup put the Huskies back in front by five.

“I’m not sure why Christine Huber didn’t win any (CAA awards), she is amazing,” said a smiling Porter.

Huber was the best player in uniform for the Huskies as she provided an offensive spark with a game high 25 points. She had variety hitting shots from the arc as well as posting up for layups on the inside.

While the Huskies tried to ride Huber, Mason would turn to Moton to get them back in the game. A driving layup to the cup and a 10 foot jumper gave Mason all they needed to secure at one point lead at the half, 32-31.

The second half was a George Mason free throw clinic as the Patirots fought off Northeastern swats to put themselves at the line. Back to back free throws by Evelyn Lewis gave the Mason a four point lead with just under four minutes to play.  The Patriots set a new tournament record going 18 for 18 from the stripe in the game.

“Free throws are important and playing in a game sometimes it comes down to one or two free throws,” said Moton who was 2 for 2 in the game.

Mason moves on in the tournament taking on CAA rival James Madison in a battle of the 7^th and 3^rd seeds.  The Patriots are 3-6 all time against the Dukes in the CAA tournament. Tipoff is slated for 5pm in Upper Marlboro, Maryland.

Mason 64, VCU 74

It happened again.

For the fifth time in as many chances and the third time in three years, the Patriots were trumped by the VCU Rams in the Colonial Athletic Association Tournament in the Richmond Coliseum.

Photo credit: Stephen Kline

In the opening minutes of the first half, the Rams put together a 32-point onslaught in front of another sold out session that left the Patriots clawing for every basket. Bradford Burgess and Troy Daniels led the charge as VCU canned each of their first eight 3-point attempts, hitting Mason with a 32-4 deficit just nine minutes into the game.

“We weren’t ready to start,” Paul Hewitt said. “That falls on me. When they started hitting those threes, we should have made some adjustments.”

Postgame Press Conference: Paul Hewitt, Mike Morrison, Jonathan Arledge

But the Patriots fought back.

Led by Mike Morrison for a second straight night, Mason scratched their way to within striking distance and went into the break trailing 48-32. Morrison had 12 of his 20 total points in the first half, keeping the Patriots’ conference championship hopes alive with 20 minutes left to play.

“Our guys climbed out of [the deficit] because they played extremely hard,” Hewitt said. “They’re extremely committed. But it’s tough to defend live ball turnovers. And that really killed us.”

Morrison added: “One thing I credit my team with is that no matter how much we were down, we never stopped fighting. At no point in the game did we put our heads down and give up.”

To begin the second half, Hewitt ran Cornelius into the point guard role and put the ball in the hands of his senior guard for the remainder of the game. Cornelius knocked down several clutch 3-pointers, connecting on 4-of-10 total shots in an impressive 15-point effort.

“We just wanted to put some quickness on the ball,” Hewitt said. “That tempered their aggressiveness a little bit.”

Anchoring the Patriots’ defense, the two seniors held VCU to just 42 points in the final 30 minutes, outscoring the Rams 60-42 during that frame.

With help from a double-double performance by Jonathan Arledge, who finished the game with 10 points and 11 rebounds, Morrison, Cornelius and the Patriots closed the gap to seven points late in the second half and threatened to steal a victory despite the early deficit.

“Everybody had confidence in me – my teammates, the coaching staff, everybody,” Arledge said. “And that gave me confidence.”

Despite any effort made by Hewitt and his staff to get CAA Player of the Year Ryan Pearson involved offensively, the senior forward could not find his rhythm in Richmond and exited the weekend with just 10 total points, six of them coming in the loss on Sunday evening.

“We didn’t execute well in some of the sets where we tried to get him the ball,” Hewitt said. “But part of that falls on Ryan, too.”

After a few missed shots and unfortunate breaks, the Patriots were forced to play against the clock and couldn’t muster up one final run to close the game out and seal an impressive comeback victory, dropping their semifinal game by a final score of 74-64.

“I’m very proud of the way these guys fought back,” Hewitt said. “Give them credit for that.”

With the victory, VCU advances to the championship game where they will take on the regular season champions, the Drexel Dragons, at 7 p.m. in Richmond.