Mason Beats Huskies, Meet UNCW in Semis

By Connect Mason Sports Director Damien Sordelett
Photos by Broadside Photographer Mahmoud Lababidi

RICHMOND – It began to look too much like other road games. Build a big lead, head into halftime feeling good and then, somehow, have the game slip right out of reach.

In this new season, the George Mason Patriots knew not to let anything like that happen again.

Folarin Campbell scored 20 points and Will Thomas scored 17 points as George Mason (21-10) defeated the Northeastern Huskies 63-52 in the quarterfinals of the CAA Tournament.

With the Patriots clinging to a 54-49 lead with 2:19 remaining after a Matt Janning putback, Dre Smith hit a jumper and Campbell hit 7-of-8 from the free throw line to ice the game for Mason.

“I want the ball in my hands at the end of the game and I got to go there and knock it down,” said Campbell, who hit 10 of his 13 free throw attempts for the game. “I’m mad I missed that one free throw.”

That one free throw would not matter as Mason held Northeastern (14-17) to just 36 percent shooting for the game and all-CAA performer Janning to just 10 points.

“We haven’t been an offensive juggernaut all year long. In order for us to score, we need Matt Janning to score,” Northeastern coach Bill Coen said. “I thought Mason did a terrific job of playing him. It was their extra attention that made the difference.”

Defense was the difference, as the Patriots played with more urgency than in previous contests. However, that was put to the test as Mason was called for an uncanny 15 fouls in the second half, something that almost came back to haunt the Patriots.

“We have to take responsibility for the way we play defense,” George Mason coach Jim Larranaga said. “To start the second half, we made a number of poor decisions trying to reach. When we didn’t foul them, we guarded them well.”

The added fouls allowed the Huskies to use a 17-6 run that initially cut the lead to six at 43-37 with a little under 10 1/2-minutes left in the second half.

That final run would be futile thanks to a slow start for the Huskies. Mason pulled away in the latter stages of the first half, closing it on a 24-9 run that saw the lead balloon to 13.

“Coming out, we wanted to be aggressive and going inside and penetrating the zone,” said Thomas, who finished with eight rebounds. “Working the ball around, sharing the ball and trying to get the shot we want.”

Chaisson Allen and Eugene Spates led the Huskies with 11 points each.