Poor shooting, lapses in transition game hurt ODU

FAIRFAX

The chances of 8,000-plus George Mason basketball fans leaving the Patriot Center with a coupon for a chicken sandwich Saturday appeared remote.

A promotion awards a sandwich to fans any time the Patriots score 80 points. Fat chance of that happening, it seemed. George Mason was facing Old Dominion, the second stingiest team in the nation. The Monarchs were allowing just 53.9 points a game. No team had scored 70 on them, much less 80.

And yet when Sherrod Wright scored on a flying tip-in with 2:45 left to give Mason 70 points, the poultry threshold appeared within reach. It was not breached, but the Monarchs' defensive reputation repeatedly was, in a 71-55 defeat.

For ODU, it was a rude reminder of the realities of Colonial Athletic Association play. The veteran, preseason favorite Monarchs had won three straight and 5 of 6. A young Mason team was coming off a 27-point loss at Radford.

None of that mattered as a four-game week of conference play began. ODU (9-5, 1-1 CAA) fell here for the 11th time in its past 12 visits. Mason (7-6, 2-0) improved its home record to 32-2 over the past three seasons.

"Every single time I've been here it's been hard to play against them," ODU senior Gerald Lee said.

ODU made things hard on itself, by missing some open shots and failing to get back in transition defense. One play typified the afternoon. It came with 3:54 left, when Lee missed a jumper from the top of the key. Cam Long grabbed the long rebound and found a streaking Mike Morrison, who flushed a dunk that made it 68-53.

"We stressed transition defense all week," ODU guard Kent Bazemore said. "But they were leaking out."

And beating the Monarchs off the dribble. And, perhaps most surprisingly, beating them on the boards, where the Patriots had a 36-30 rebounding edge.

Mason had been manhandled on the glass at Radford, losing the rebound battle by 18.

Coach Jim Larranaga said his message to his team prior to Saturday's game was simple: "We need to be able to compete on the backboards."

The Patriots took it to heart, out-scrapping the bigger Monarchs for missed shots and loose balls.

"They played harder than us," Lee said.

Particularly in the second half when George Mason made 11 of its first 15 shots, and shot 57 percent. The Patriots shot 53 percent for the game, becoming the first team this year to shoot at least 50 percent against ODU.

The Monarchs didn't help their cause by going 2 for 12 from 3-point range. Several of the misses resulted in baskets at the other end. Had it hit a few more shots, ODU would have been able to set its defense, coach Blaine Taylor said.

"They didn't score on our defense, they scored on our offense," Taylor said. "How many run-outs and dunks did they have?"

Enough to keep a crowd of 8,600 delighted, chicken sandwich or not. It began to look like it might be the Patriots' day at the end of a tight first half, when freshman Luke Hancock fired a 3-pointer from the corner as time ran down.

The ball hit the rim a split second before the buzzer sounded. It caromed above the cylinder, hung for a moment, and then fell through the net.

It gave George Mason something bigger than just a 3-point lead, Long said.

"As soon as it dropped, it gave everybody a lot of energy," he said.

Ed Miller, (757) 446-2372, ed.miller@pilotonline.com