Mason Wins Sweet 16

Head Coach Jim Larranaga had always praised of Louis Birdsong’s athleticism; on Wednesday night, the senior forward received the starting nod and thrived from all angles as the men’s basketball team topped the Delaware Blue Hens 77-66 to win its 16th consecutive home game against a conference opponent. 

Mason jumped out to an early 12-2 lead, and after the Blue Hens closed the gap to 14-10, the Patriots regained its composure and went on a 17-0 run. Coming off a three-game road trip, the team’s offensive explosion had not gone away, going into halftime with a 38-17 lead.

In the first half, Mason shot on all cylinders, making 6-of-10 shots from long distance. Sophomore guard Andre Cornelius had the hot hand with 12 points on 3-of-4 from behind the arc in the first half.

“We were playing good defense; we got open shots on offense, which got our offense going,” said Cornelius.

For the first 20 minutes, the defense completely locked down on the Blue Hens’ two leading scorers, guards Jawan Carter and Alphonso Dawson. Both players combined for just 1-of-12 shooting and two points.
 

“In the first half, everyone had good intensity. We [were] playing good defense, and we let down a little bit in the second half, but we picked it back up again in the last five minutes,” said Cornelius.
 

The Patriots held the Blue Hens to a 23.3 field goal percentage and blocked seven shots. Birdsong recorded all three of his blocks in the first half.

 
“[Birdsong is] very aggressive defensively in defending his man, but he also likes to come over and block shots when someone gets beat, so I think he played a typical ‘Louis Birdsong’ game. It was a normal game for him, but he played a lot of minutes tonight,” said Larranaga.

 
Birdsong, who played in 24 minutes in the previous three games, logged in a season-high 29 minutes in the win over the Blue Hens. Birdsong filled in as a starter for sophomore forward Ryan Pearson, who was out with a strained hamstring.

“The main thing was to step up because [Pearson] was averaging double figures, and he has been rebounding and playing defense, so I had to make up for that,” said Birdsong.

 
After a productive first half, Birdsong, who recorded season-highs with 11 points and seven rebounds, continued to provide the team with strong play on both sides of the court.

Both teams displayed their physicality. With 12 minutes left to play, sophomore forward Mike Morrison, who scored 10 points and posted seven rebounds in the game, went up to grab a rebound, but during the process, he got tangled up with the Blue Hens’ forward Hakim McCullar. Morrison and McCullar received technical fouls as both players had to be restrained by their teammates and coaches.

 
The Blue Hens rallied from 21 points to close within 12 points with four minutes left. Sophomore guard Isaiah Tate drained a 3-pointer to bring the Blue Hens’ momentum to a halt. Although the team was outscored 49-39 in the second half, junior guard Cam Long led the team with 18 points in the game after being held to five points in the first half. Long, last week’s Colonial Athletic Association Player of the Week, averaged 24 points, five rebounds, and five assists, including a career-high 27 points against the Hofstra Pride two weeks ago.

 
Even though Mason had its latest road success, improving to 4-4 away from the Patriot Center, the team was able to show as much consistency at home. Mason not only won its sixth consecutive game to move into the lead in the CAA, the team extended its home consecutive winning streak against a conference opponent to 16 games. The school record is 17 games, which the Patriots attempted to match against their in-state rival, James Madison Dukes last Saturday.

 
“The three road games were very important for our confidence level and also to stay in the race in the league. Coming home is very nice because the students are so supportive,” said Larranaga.

 
The Blue Hens were led by Carter with 23 points on 8-of-18 shooting from the field. Carter added eight assists and two steals, but the Blue Hens were unable to receive any backup. Center Adam Pegg, who came into the game averaging 3.6 points, scored in double-digits for the third time this season, adding 10 points.

 
Mason improved to 14-7 and 9-1 in the conference, while the Blue Hens dropped to 6-15 and 2-8 in conference play.