Mason goes home happy after 71-39 win

Ryan Pearson recorded his third double-double in as many games. The senior forward had 16 points and 12 rebounds in the Patriots' blowout victory. (John Powell).

BLACKSBURG, Va. – After their first two games of the season came down to the wire, Mason left no doubt against Monmouth in the consolation round of the Preseason NIT Season Tip-off.

In each of their first two games, the Patriots started off slow and found themselves playing catch-up throughout the game. On Tuesday night, though, Mason jumped out to an early advantage and never trailed on their way to an overpowering victory.

“We started out sluggish in yesterday’s game,” said Ryan Pearson, who led all scorers with 16 points on the night. “We wanted to come out and throw the first punch tonight.”

Pearson recorded his third consecutive double-double, adding 12 rebounds and three steals in an efficient 7-for-11 shooting effort.

“He’s a big time player,” coach Paul Hewitt said. “He’s the type of guy that you can run a lot of things through. He’ll continue to do that and, believe it or not, he can get better.”

Vertrail Vaughns picked up right where he left off last night, nailing four 3-point attempts in the first half in a steady 12 point effort. Vaughns has embraced his new role as a starter, scoring in double-digits in all three games to start the season.

Midway through the second half, the Patriots got a little scare when Sherrod Wright, who missed all last season with a shoulder injury, went down with a middle finger and wrist injury on a drive to the basket. He left the game, did not return and is scheduled to have x-rays on the hand on Wednesday.

Though they looked like a much different team than they did in Monday night’s loss to Florida International, the Patriots still committed 20 turnovers on the night and have now tallied 58 turnovers through the first three games.

“We just need to stop trying to hit so many homeruns and maybe get some more base hits,” Pearson said. “We’ve got a lot of things that we still need to work on heading into Florida Atlantic this weekend.”