Long's clutch three-pointer lifts Mason over Indiana

Both Cam Long and Luke Hancock hit key three-pointers in the closing moments of the game Sunday to help the Patriots avoid leaving Puerto Rico 0-3. In the 69-66 victory over Indiana Mike Morrison set a Puerto Rico Tip-Off tournament record with 7 blocks. He also scored 17 points and collected 13 rebounds. Long finished with 18 points and sealed the victory for the Patriots by banking in a three-pointer with the shot clock winding down and what seemed like four hands in his face with about 5 seconds remaining. They needed a big play from their leader and best player and they got it. Luke Hancock continues to show up all over the box score adding 9 points, 8 rebounds, and 8 assists. How much longer before we see a triple-double from this kid? Andre Cornelius finished with 9 points and played excellent defense for all of his 33 minutes. I really thought our front court would dominate the Hoosiers, but they were actually out-rebounded by them. Ryan Pearson being in foul trouble for most of the game was mostly to blame for this. Kind of thought we would have saw more of Johnny Williams but he seems to remain a situational guy for Larranaga still at this point. The Patriots continue to struggle on hitting clutch free-throws down the stretch and are just leaving too many points on the table. Shooting about 50-60% from the free-throw line is just not gonna cut it this year.

It was obvious from the beginning that both teams were determined to not be the team that left Puerto Rico winless. I'm sure fans will say that the Patriots are continuing to play down to the competition and that this team should have won this game easily. To a point I agree because Indiana's defense was terrible today. Mason was able to get through their zone and create easy shots and dunks. If Ryan Pearson didn't end up fouling out, this game could have went very different. But the fact still remains that with a young team you are going to see a lot inconsistency with plenty of highs and lows. The main thing to take away from this game is that the Patriots fought til the end and pulled out the victory.

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