Men’s Basketball gets back on winning track; routs Radford 81-55

Freshman guard Bryon Allen soars through the air to save Mason's possession. He has provided an important spark off the bench this season. (Ezekiel Ibrahim-Watkins)

The George Mason Men’s squad (3-2) returned home coming off two consecutive loses in the ESPN Charleston Classic and made a statement with a dominant 81-55 victory over the Highlanders of Radford (2-2).

The Patriots came out hot to open the game. Juniors Ryan Pearson and Andre Cornelius both knocked down a three-pointer to take an early 6-0 lead, which quickly spread to a 10-0 lead after a dunk by senior Cam Long another jumper by Cornelius. Once the lead crept up to 15-2 just five minutes into the action, the Highlanders were forced to take a timeout.

But the Patriots never relinquished the momentum.

“Any team can play well for five minutes, ten minutes, even a half,” Head Coach Jim Larranaga said. “What a team has to do to really be a good team is sustain that effort.”

The Patriots have had trouble thus far this season maintaining their intensity for 40 minutes. After beginning the season 2-0 with wins over Harvard at home and Charlotte in the opening round of the Charleston Classic, they dropped their last two contests to N.C. State and Wofford to end the tournament.

Against the Wolfpack, the Patriots fell despite leading during the second half, and they lost to Wofford in overtime also after leading late in the game.

Larranaga gave his players a day off from practice on Monday, but held a team meeting to discuss the importance of defense moving forward.

“We talked to them about our field-goal percentage defense, how important it is to keep our opponents under 40 percent overall and under 30 percent from three,” he said. “And we were able to do that tonight, a significant difference especially at the start of the game.”

The Patriots entered the locker room at halftime with a comfortable 43-23 lead, propelled by a 7-13 three-point shooting performance and solid team defense.

“The main thing we focused on was defense,” Long said. “I think we came out very well prepared, everybody was pressuring their man with the ball with elbows and blocks, so there was no way they could really penetrate the defense.”

Despite the 20-point margin, the team came out with the same intensity in the second half as they did to begin the contest.

The lead hovered around the 20-point mark until about 10 minutes remaining in the second half, at which point they regained their early spark and pushed the lead to 29. The Highlanders were unable to halt the Patriots hot shooting, and they finished 13-26 from beyond the arc.

Long led all scores with 20 points, going 4-6 from long range. Cornelius contributed 17 points to the effort, with an impressive 5-6 performance from three-point land.

“My teammates were able to find me on breaks, and we were able to find each other,” Cornelius said. “Coach stressed ball movement so we able to get easier shots.”

Pearson also scored in double-figures with 13 points, before leaving the game with a sprained ankle.

Sophomore Luke Hancock had the hot-hand dishing the ball with 10 assists, but only scored five points on two shot attempts.

“Luke is one of our main scorers, that’s what we expect him to do,” Long said. “And today he was just capable of finding people because everybody was knocking down shots.”

Evan Faulkner led the way for the Highlanders with 15 points.

Larranaga’s crew returns to action Nov. 27 against Florida Atalntic in the Patriot Center at 4 pm. This will be the second game of an unusual five-game homestand, followed by George Washington, UNC Wilmington and Loyola (Md.). The Patriots haven’t played five consecutive home contests since 1996.

“Being back in front of the home crowd, the atmosphere and the environment is just so high and loud,” Long said. “That’s one thing we’re really going to be looking forward to.”