George Mason blows out Delaware, takes sole possession of 3rd place in CAA

The Patriots had another explosive 2nd half last night en route their 7th conference win and fifth in a row.  They now are in sole possession of third place in the CAA only one game behind VCU and Hofstra, both of whom had close calls last night. This game almost seemed like it had potential to go down to the wire as Mason led by only 3 with 3:35 remaining before halftime. But then Mason went on a 9-0 run to close out the half and dominated Delaware in the 2nd half on both ends. That 9 point run turned into a 23-3 run after the start of the 2nd half and Mason never looked back. Both teams didn't have great shooting nights and some of that was a credit to Mason's defense that held the Blue Hens to a season-low 30.4% from the field. The Patriots also held Jawan Carter, the CAA's 4th leading scorer to zero points.  Cam Long followed up his 30 point performance against JMU with 20 points last night and has been shooting the ball extremely well. 

It was a total team effort once again from the Patriots as Ryan Pearson had 13 points and Luke Hancock added 12. Mike Morrison was aggressive on the glass and finished with 8 rebounds. Mason also dominated the paint in this one scoring 34 of their 69 points from there compared to the Blue Hens only scoring 12. They continue to get to the free-throw and have been improving on their shooting from there, which has prevented a lot of teams from storming back against them in the 2nd half.

The Patriots winning ways recently have been doing wonders for their RPI. Just this morning they are at #28, that's good for best in the CAA. While it's impressive to be ahead of a lot of BCS team it also will position them to get a solid road game Bracket Buster opponent.  The pairings for that will be announced Monday January 31st and it's looking like the Patriots will face either Wichita State, Saint Mary's or Valparaiso in a nationally televised game February 19th.

College Basketball