Vaughan is Mr. Clutch

By Staff Writer Ryan Dempsey

Last Wednesday, the men’s basketball team (19-9, 12-5) traveled to Wilmington, N.C. and successfully beat the UNC Wilmington Seahawks 53-52.

George Mason Univesity defeated UNC-W (7-23, 3-14) in Trask Coliseum for the first time in more than five years. The Patriots snapped their six-game road losing streak, stretching back to the middle of January.

The game started with both teams making their first shot. After that, the game dragged on offensively with poor shooting by both teams, making only one shot in 15 attempts combined.

The Patriots then made four of their next five shots and took a 13-4 lead. The bizarre lack of scoring continued as the Seahawks went more than 10 minutes without a field goal. UNC-W finally hit its second field goal of the game with 8:30 left in the first half, making the score 14-7.

Mason responded with a shot by senior forward Darryl Monroe and a 3-pointer made by sophomore guard Cam Long, extending the Patriots’ lead to 19-7.

With four minutes left to go, the Seahawks came alive offensively hitting back-to-back shots from behind the arc, a layup, and a pair of free throws, ending the half with a 14-0 run. The Patriots led 21-19 at the half.

Mason scored first to open the second half, but guard Chad Tomko scored five straight for the Seahawks to give UNC-W a 24-23 lead. The Patriots responded with a 6-0 run with 14 minutes to play.

After that, Long and sophomore forward Michael Morrison took over offensively as the Patriots went on a 14-1 run. UNC-W then came back with another big 11-0 run of their own to pull within five, 45-40.

The run ended with a 3-pointer made by senior guard Dre Smith, his first successful 3-point shot since January.

The Patriots continued to build their lead, and with 8:39 left in the game, were up by 16.

Despite the efforts of the Patriots, the Seahawks went on a 23-6 run including nine points scored by Tomko and four 3-pointers scored by forward Montez Downey. With this run, UNC-W took a one-point lead with 21 seconds in the game.

With four seconds left to play, senior guard John Vaughan scored a reverse layup assisted by Monroe and the Patriots went up by one, 53-52.

Smith led the Patriots in scoring with 13 points. Long, Morrison and Vaughan scored nine, eight and seven points respectively. The Patriots shot 41 percent from the field, including five shots from downtown.

Additionally, Vaughan recorded double-digits in rebounding for the first time in his collegiate career. Vaughan finally succeeded in winning at Trask Coliseum.

The Patriots previously won 64-62 in overtime at Trask on Jan. 21, 2004, which was the year before Vaughan arrived at Mason.

Tomko and forward Montez Downey scored 17 points apiece for the Seahawks. The two combined for nine of the team’s 10 3-pointers in the game. The Seahawks’ defense was able to force 13 turnovers. five of which came from steals.

An interesting fact about last Wednesday is that the Patriots win was one of four CAA games that ended in a one-point win.

Additionally, rumors are circulating on CAAzone.com that Head Coach Jim Larranaga allowed Vaughan to step up as a leader during the second half and coach the team.

Whatever happened, the Patriots were able to successfully come together as a team and win on the road.