Patriots Outlast Rams in CAA Thriller

By Connect Mason Sports Director Damien Sordelett

As the final buzzer sounded, the student section, which had been in their seats 75 minutes prior to tip-off, could hardly contain the emotion of a defensive slugfest between the two Colonial Athletic Association powers.

• All about the Jan. 29 game against VCU, courtesy of WGMU
  

For the Patriot Platoon and all other George Mason fans, this was a time to celebrate and forget what happened in the CAA Championship.

Will Thomas scored 21 points and pulled down 14 rebounds as George Mason (7-3 CAA, 15-6) used a 20-4 run to put away conference-leading VCU (8-2 CAA, 15-5) 63-51 before 7,917 at the Patriot Center Tues., Jan. 29.

Folarin Campbell added 17 points as the Patriots withstood a defensive back-and-forth battle that lasted for much of the game. John Vaughan came alive in the second half, scoring 10 points and playing better defense on Eric Maynor, who only scored three second-half points.

"I thought it was a typical VCU first-half, they defended the heck of out us. We didn't score much, we had 25 at halftime," George Mason coach Jim Larranaga said. "We decided to go with four guards so we could at least handle the ball. What we ended up doing is actually playing great defense. I thought we might have a problem size wise, they did out rebound us, but we had four guards and Will out there for the last 10 or 11 minutes of the ball game and we scored 30 points in the last 11 minutes and only gave up 12, so it was a great run and a great performance."

The great defense was holding pre-season CAA player of the year Eric Maynor in check for the second half. Maynor, who hit his first three 3-pointers, only scored 12 points. Jamal Shuler picked up the slack, scoring a team-high 21 points as the only other Ram in double figures.

"I thought their intensity, the way they defended us, they did a great job of taking us out of our offense and being disruptive with the way they played," said Virginia Commonwealth coach Anthony Grant. "They had a decisive run from the 12-minute mark; they really clamped down defensively and played with great energy and, I thought, just willed themselves to victory."

Part of the reason was the large contingent of students that showed up to cheer for the Patriots. The largest student attendance ever of 2,061 helped give energy and life to a Patriots team that continually clawed their way back from deficits to the Rams.

“That was huge. We feed off energy and we play with energy,” said Dre Smith, who finished with six points. “Having a crowd like that, they were in it from start to finish, and when they made their runs and when we did something the crowd just got us going.”

“The crowd was sensational. When I came out, normally there is a really good lower level of students that come to the games. I looked up and I kept looking right up to the top of the rafters was filled with gold t-shirts,” Larranaga said. “The enthusiasm and the school spirit that our players have created with their performance on the court over a long period of time is something that I hope they all take great pride in because they should.”