Reserves shine, Mason routs Delaware

Mason bounced back last night at home against Delaware. The Patriots continued their unbeaten streak at home and ended their two-game skid. Reserve players had a huge role last night as Isaiah Tate had career highs and Michael Morrison ignited the Patriots early with 14 points. Dre Smith had a couple of great steals that he converted into layups and Cam Long had his first career double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Mason came out flat to start the game and was down by as much as nine while Delaware's offense looked very much on point. After half-time though Mason's defense looked a to have a lot more fire and they basically didn't get the Hen's any looks. Darryl Monroe's rebounding on both ends helped the Patriots take control in the second half. Every starter had a steal which is something you can't say most nights for any team. The team obviously still misses John Vaughan's play on both ends of the court but it was interesting to see who would step up in his absence. We have really seen Cam Long's best lately and it's been a nice little preview of what next year's team will look like. Andre Cornelius got another start and seemed to look a lot more comfortable handling the ball. The coaches have to be pleased with Isaiah Tate's performance despite looking sloppy at times earlier in the year. He will need to step again Saturday at ODU even with Vaughan likely returning. Vaughan's return will hopefully end another iffy defensive start for Mason and hopefully improve their assist-to-turnover ratio which hasn't been great lately. ODU, like Mason is tough at home and being down early like last night could really be their doom.