Arledge, Patriots top Old Dominion, 85-74 to finish off season sweep

The George Mason University men's basketball team maintained their edge on the road against Old Dominion University Monday night, sweeping the Monarchs in the season series with a 85-74 win. 

Junior forward Jonathan Arledge led the way for the Patriots, notching a career-high 21 points, two days removed from eclipsing his previous high of 19 points at James Madison University Saturday. 

The increased minutes have been extremely beneficial for Arledge. 

In replacement of junior forward Johnny Williams, he has gradually improved in each of his three starts, scoring 14 points against Drexel University, 19 points at James Madison University and 21 points at Old Dominion University. In his past three games as a starter, Arledge is averaging 18.0 points per game, relieving some of the scoring load off Sherrod Wright's shoulders. 

Mason played an efficient first half, shooting 59 percent from the field and 80 percent from behind the arc. But, after a second half collapse against Drexel last Thursday, the Patriots made it a point of emphasis of closing out the game strong after leading by 12 at the half.

A main reason that Mason kept control of the game in the second half came from the charity stripe, earning 21 trips to the line in the half and connecting on 90 percent of those attempts. Arledge (9-9), Bryon Allen (6-6), Patrick Holloway (2-2) and Erik Copes (2-2) all were perfect from the line.

Some other firsts of the season for Mason included scoring over 80 points and having five players score in double figures. Even more surprising was that Mason's leading scorer Wright was not one of the five, contributing nine points and nine rebounds in the winning effort.  

Holloway finished with 13 points, knocking down 3-of-4 three-pointers, including a deep three at the top of the arc. Sophomore guard Corey Edwards turned in 11 points with five assists and Allen added 10 points with eight assists. 

Mason hosts the University of Delaware Blue Hens on Saturday at 2 p.m. Delaware is riding a three-game win streak and are currently ranked second in the Colonial Athletic Association behind Northeastern. With the win Monday, Mason is seated in third place with the opportunity to move into second with a win against Delaware. 

Photo by John Irwin