Patriots Lose Heartbreaker in OT
By Connect2Mason Blogger Ryan Kish
Mason looked as if they had their first quality road win locked up with about 5 secs to play, then Talor Battle threw up an off balance three-pointer at the buzzer to send the game into overtime. Momentum suddenly shifted and Mason fans knew their season was about to come to an end. In OT, Battle, who wasn't shooting particularly great until that buzzer beater, added 8 more and ended the Patriots season. Many people have been emailing me asking why Larranaga didn't intentionally foul to prevent the Nittany Lions from even attempting a three, here is what a local PA newsite had to say about it:
- "Patriots' head coach Jim Larranaga doesn't have his team foul when leading by three late in the game because it has defended the perimeter so well all year. The Patriots are ranked 14th nationally in 3-point field goal defense."
Every coach has their own philosophy and anyone who has watched Larranaga over the years should know he doesn't foul in that situation and it has worked in the past. The guy threw up a prayer and it went in, that's college basketball, not really something you can work on in practice. Regardless, we still saw a Patriots squad play the whole 40 minutes on the road, with the freshmen scoring 30 points and sophomore Cam Long leading the way with 16. Anyone excited for a back court next season with Cornelius and Long? Dre Smith started off strong, knocking down his first two three-pointer attempts but then went 0-for-6 from there to finish the game. JV and Darryl Monroe played solid but didn't come up big when the Patriots needed to make a play. Louis Birdsong shuffling his feet on an in-bounds created a crucial turnover late that hurt Mason. If the younger guys didn't step up who knows how this one would have turned out. Disappointing end to one of those 'what could have been' seasons but it's hard to keep your head down with the talent on this squad and the experience they will have after this year.
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