Patriots dethrone the Monarchs for Homecoming, 62-45

Junior Mike Morrison electrified the sell-out crowd Saturday afternoon with four big dunks, helping the Patriots take down the ODU Monarchs, 62-45, for their ninth straight win. (John Powell)

Coming off eight consecutive victories and playing in front of a record audience of 9,840, the Patriots (19-5, 11-2) shook off a slow start to knock off conference foe, the Monarchs of ODU (18-6, 9-4), by a final score of 62-45. The Monarchs were the last team to beat the Patriots back on Jan. 8.

Students, alumni, fans and members of the Fairfax community came out to support their Patriots in the annual Homecoming game Saturday afternoon. The student section was jam-packed an hour before the tip and the house was rocking.

“We were all hyped up, the crowd was great, the opponent was great, and we wanted to play so well and we wanted it so badly that we really couldn’t execute anything,” Head Coach Jim Larranaga said.

The Patriots came out of the gate cold and sloppy. They did not register a point until the 14:15 mark in the first half. With five early turnovers and shooting just 1-10 from the field, things were not looking good early offensively.

“I was just way too anxious to play, and Coach L. was trying to get us to calm down,” junior forward Ryan Pearson said. “And I think in the second half, that’s basically what the team did.”

Despite scoring just two points in the first nine minutes of the game, the Patriots kept their defensive intensity high, only giving up seven points to the Monarchs. Defense proved to be the key for the Patriots in what was to remain a low-scoring affair throughout.

Junior forward Mike Morrison threw down a big dunk with eight minutes left in the half, immediately followed by a fast-break layup by senior guard Cam Long. This sequence narrowed the ODU lead to one point, 11-10, and provided the team and the audience with the spark necessary to forget the slow start.

The Monarchs started to pull away again after that, but Morrison once again altered the momentum with another monster jam off of a lob from junior guard Andre Cornelius.

The Patriots then took their first lead, 22-19, thanks to a three-pointer from senior guard Isaiah Tate with just over three minutes left in the first. The lead remained three points at halftime, 24-21 in a defensive struggle.

Long scored the first five points of the second half for the Patriots, including a three that stretched the lead to 29-23 and brought the entire stadium to its feet, forcing ODU to call a quick timeout.

“Lately we have definitely been a second half team,” Long said. “In the first half we executed, but we didn’t execute to our full potential. The second half, as soon as we got in there, it was just lights out.”

The Patriots came out of the timeout fired up, and quickly spread the margin to 34-25. They never looked back. They opened up their first double-digit lead with just over 10 minutes remaining, and the Monarchs had no answer.

“With a sell-out crowd like that, if you get in a run like we were doing, getting the crowd involved, it comes to the point where you’re almost unstoppable,” Long said.

Mason has been winning with defense all season. In all 19 of their victories, they have held their opponents to 39 percent shooting or worse. ODU shot just 27 percent for the game, and just 18.5 percent in the second half. They made just 1-15 shots from beyond the arc.

“If your defense is consistent and you work very hard on the defensive end, you can stay in the game,” Larranaga said. “We are a defensive team that can also score the ball.”

Pearson led all scores with 18, but he contributed much more than points. Not only did he add 11 rebounds, but he came up with several loose balls and steals that ultimately gave the Patriots momentum. Although he missed an uncontested dunk late in the second half, he hustled down the court and drew a charge at the other end to captivate the crowd and his teammates.

“I tried to gather myself and tried to just dunk real hard, but it didn’t work out the way I planned it,” Pearson said with a smile. “I was kind of upset but I knew that, hey, the play goes on, so I had to sprint back on defense and was fortunate enough to make up for it on the defensive end.”

Long also had a strong game with 14 points and six rebounds. Morrison added 10 points, eight of which came off electrifying dunks, and seven rebounds.

The Patriots return to the road to face UNC Wilmington (10-13, 4-8) Tuesday, Feb. 8, and will try for their tenth straight win. They currently sit in a tie for first atop the CAA with VCU, who also won Saturday at JMU.