George Mason falls to Towson in OT, first loss to Tigers in 20-game span

Tell me if this sounds familiar, George Mason losses at home and the opposing team has a player record a career-high? The Patriots suffered their first ever loss to Towson since they joined the CAA in 2001 and snapped their 20-game overall win streak over them. Mason hasn't been this bad at home since the '06-'07 season. To put things in perspective their home record between the 2007-2008 and the 2011-2012 seasons was 67-7; their home record his year is 7-6. Also, their home record for CAA games this year is 4-5. The last time George Mason lost that many conference games at home was during Jim Larranaga's first year as head coach in 1997-1998 season.

Jerrelle Benimon destroyed the Patriots and got 22 of his career-high 31 points in the first half. Mason held him scoreless for a long period in the second and half and mounted their comeback, very similar to last Saturday's game against William & Mary. But this time they fell short in overtime. Erik Copes had a career night as well but Mason really could have used more of Sherrod Wright, especially late in the game. Copes' hard work was a big factor all night and he added 13 points to go along with his 15 rebounds. He and Jonathan Arledge gave the Patriots a good attack in the front court but it wasn't enough to make up for their poor efforts on defense. Benimon got way too much freedom in the first half and Towson was in control almost the entire game.

Mason seems to love the drama at home and boy did they make this one interesting down the stretch. It looked like it was over with about a minute and half to go and the Patriots trailing 76-69. Patrick Holloway then hit a three-pointer with about 50 seconds to go, and Towson went 1-of-2 on free-throws to make it 77-72. Holloway sank another three-pointer, stole the ball on the inbound pass and got the ball to Anali Okoloji who got to the line. He made 1-of-2 from the line and the Tigers answered back with two made free-throws on the other end. Seconds remained and Mason took the ball down the court and fed the ball to Holloway again, only he missed this time. Arledge grabbed the miss and kicked it out to Okoloji for this three-point shot that tied it up:

Mason got outrebounded, especially in overtime and that was all she wrote. 

It was more of the same on defense for Mason last night. Wide open looks on the perimeter were plentiful for the Tigers and Mason would have been blown out if Towson didn't go a bit cold in the second half. Fouls came back to haunt them and the overall lack of discipline was again evident. Sherrod Wright disappearing again certainly didn't help. Overall Mason's offense has improved lately and they don't need to lean on Wright as much but their defense continues to be the team's achilles heel.

[Photos by Bill Bride]

NCAA Basketball Stats

NCAA Basketball Stats