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Patriots sweep Dragons

George Mason Basketball: Patriots sweep Dragons

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Friday, February 08, 2008

Patriots sweep Dragons

Coach Larranaga was not able to end his losing streak at UNCW this season but he did end his five year drought at Drexel. Mason has now won seven of their last eight games and are still currently breathing down VCU's neck for first place. Watch highlights of the game here, courtesy of ESPN 8 "The Ocho". Not to say Mason didn't have their usual struggles on the road, late in the game with less then six minutes remaining they found themselves in a tie ball game against a team they beat by 47 in November. Folarin Campbell, who has been on a tear lately, spurred a nine-point surge that ultimately led the Patriots to victory. I don't want to jinx it but I think it's time I officially let Folarin out of the doghouse. I had been unhappy with his wild inconsistency and disappearing acts in early games this season but he has been coming up huge at a point in the season where the team needs him most. Last night he dropped 25 on the Dragons, equaling his career high. Pair that with Will Thomas' 17 and 12 effort and you will find it difficult for any CAA to beat these guys. I don't have the official numbers but I found it hard to believe that Mason loses when Campbell hits 20 or more and Thomas earns a double-double.

John Vaughan did not start, as expected, but entered the game at the first timeout and kept his double digit scoring streak alive which is currently at 15 games. This is tops in the CAA. An serious injury to a consistent guy like Vaughan would be devastating at this point in the season so it's a sigh of relief to see that he is fine. Cam Long started in JV's place and added two three-pointers, he and Campbell were the only ones to hit from behind the arch. Speaking of three-pointers, why did the Patriots only attempt 11 from there? Hasn't the three-point shot been their bread and butter this year? Dre Smith has continued to be a non-factor since his record-setting night at JMU, but luckily for the Patriots they have not needed his heroics lately. Just knowing Dre can light up at any moment is good enough for me.

10 Comments:

Blogger Brann...it's good for you. said...

Great start to the road trip, even if it was a bit too close.

Campbell: Time to start talking first team all-CAA. He's been HUGE during the CAA season.

Vaughan: This team's MVP. Yeah, Campbell and Thomas was all-league, but no player means more to his team right now than John V.

Birdsong and Smith: They gotta give more consistency. It's going to catch up with us.

ODU, next: Well, we SHOULD beat up on these guys again, BUT...we'll see what happens. I'd love to see us spank a descending team in their place. Plus, it's Norfolk. What a crappy city. (No offense if anyone on this site regularly is from there. I just love my safe Mason campus more so than downtown Norfolk.)

10:39 AM  
Blogger C Hirsch said...

When we were down 24-11 early I was getting very upset.

Thankfully we played an awful team and were able to come back from it.

Dre Smith is killing us lately, his shot is so off now and he is just chucking it up there hoping it goes in.

We are really going to miss Thomas and Campbell, they have been beasts lately.

Beat ODU!!!

11:22 AM  
Blogger Unknown said...

Dre Smith needs to be replaced by Cam Long. Not only is his shooting way off, but each and every time he attempts to drive to the basket he loses the ball. It is unbelievable how many turnovers he has committed driving the lane.

2:20 PM  
Blogger Farmdog said...

Agreed on the comments about Dre - he still is an emotional spark, but better to ignite off the bench then starting.

Cam has earned it and his ball handling and athleticism deserve court time.

Folarin has been huge and should be let out of the dog house - moving back to point has done wonders for him

Still need someone consistently off the bench - I had heard that Vlad was a sharpshooter in high school - not sure where that went. If he could take the big men out to the three point line consisitently - Will Thomas would be vying for an NCAA scoring championship

I like where we are - any UNCW tix out there???

3:03 PM  
Blogger Farmdog said...

Agreed on the comments about Dre - he still is an emotional spark, but better to ignite off the bench then starting.

Cam has earned it and his ball handling and athleticism deserve court time.

Folarin has been huge and should be let out of the dog house - moving back to point has done wonders for him

Still need someone consistently off the bench - I had heard that Vlad was a sharpshooter in high school - not sure where that went. If he could take the big men out to the three point line consisitently - Will Thomas would be vying for an NCAA scoring championship

I like where we are - any UNCW tix out there???

3:03 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

One thing about Vlad - I have yet to see him make an outside shot!!

11:30 PM  
Blogger Mr. Miles said...

Followerin' is out of my dog house and as long as he is hitting and not making turnovers we will be just fine. JV and Will Thomas are on top of their game.

I agree with benching Dre'. Let Cam Long start and see if that will lift Smiths play. A shooters slump is something that comes and goes but come on Dre' don't force shots and then make stupid turnovers. It seems like instead of the game flowing for him he is forcing everything. Bench him until he finds the rhythm again. Oh, just a side note MASON PLEASE LEARN TO PUMP FAKE AND TAKE IT STRONG TO THE BASKET TO GET THE BUCKET OR FOUL.

Beat ODU!!!!! GO MASON!!!!!!

10:34 AM  
Blogger Farmdog said...

Birdsong - is he a forward? How about some defense and a couple of rebounds then.

4:30 PM  
Blogger C Hirsch said...

Well there goes our chance at the regular season conference championship and most likely an at-large bid. Why are we so awful on the road????

5:58 PM  
Blogger sportsfan882 said...

What an embarrassment. I guess we should expect that in any conference road game despite how bad the opponent is. It looked like the entire team stayed up partying late last night.

Other than Folarin who had a nice scoring night the rest of the team sucked. Will Thomas got owned all day by ODU's big men. Vaughan was a no show. The defense all game was pathetic. Over and over again ODU would run down the shot clock only to make a bucket.
The only way this team is getting into the NCAA tourney is winning the Conference tourney. After calling this game for CSN, Joe Lunardi will definitely take us out of his bracket.

5:59 PM  

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