Ignoring the Elephant in the Room (Recap of Hofstra vs George Mason)

I was reluctant to write this recap. How could I, as a George Mason fan, write about a Hofstra/Mason game, for a Hofstra fan's blog, without either annoying 75% of the audience of this blog, or annoying myself? I'm not sure I can, especially with Defiantly Dutch's simmering hatred for Mason undoubtedly hovering nearby. But I like playing with fire, so I'm going to try it anyway.

The first half was pretty much a rerun of so many other CAA rockfights from recent years. Erik Copes scored Mason's first field goal of the game. Hofstra went ahead 8-5 early on a Taran Buie three-pointer, helped out by 4 Mason turnovers in the first 4-plus minutes. But then, the Pride offense went into a funk, missing their next 13 shots and 3 of 5 free throws as the Patriots built a 21-10 advantage with 7:29 left in the half.

After a Hofstra time out, Daquan Brown made a layup, the visitors' fourth and final field goal of the first half. However, Mason's foul-prone defense conceded 11 free throws, and the Pride converted all 11, allowing them to keep pace with the Patriots offense.

At the half, the visitors only trailed 31-23, despite shooting a horrendous 4-25 from the field (compared to 11-25 for the hosts). The Pride made exactly one field goal in the final 14 minutes of the first half, but 14 (of 18) made three throws, compared to 7 (of 12) for the Patriots, kept them in the game.

The second half began just as many Patriots fans feared: Mason continued to look out of sync on offense, while the Pride looked energized, and began to attack the 8-point deficit. The home team had let the visitors hand around too long, and there was no way Hofstra was going to shoot 16% again in the second half.

Mason was held to one field goal in the first 5 minutes, while Stevie Mejia and Steven Nwankoni combined to score ten points, tying the game at 33 apiece at the under-16 media timeout. The Hofstra bench and the small band of Pride fans behind it were ecstatic, but Sherrod Wright had other ideas, scoring the next four to retake a lead that the Patriots would never relinquish.

The teams traded baskets for the next two minutes, but Mason began to settle in on defense, turning up the full court pressure and creating steals. Buie cut the lead to 4 at the ten minute mark, but Hofstra didn't score another field goal for eight minutes, giving up an 11-2 run that pretty much ended any hopes of a comeback.

In the late minutes, the Hofstra defense failed to get back in transition and were beaten several times, capped by a Sherrod Wright (who scored 21 points for his CAA-leading ninth 20-point game) scored on a breakaway dunk to make it 55-44 with 1:09 to play, and from there, the Patriots largely ran out the clock, winning 57-46.

The Pride only made 11 of 48 field goals for the game (including 1 of 13 three-point attempts), finishing with an astounding 22.9 shooting percentage. However, their 23 points from the field were augmented by an additional 23 from the free throw line, which served to keep the Pride in the game well into the second half, and the final score (somewhat) respectable. The Pride won't win if they can't shoot better than they did in this game, but their hustle and effort to tie the game early in the second half won my respect. It was evident before and during the game that Mo Cassara has done a lot to motivate and encourage his players in the face of what's been a very trying season.


One positive for George Mason continues to the the shooting of sophomore point guard Corey Edwards. He doesn't shoot a lot -- 3.1 attempts per game -- but he's shooting a team-leading 54.5% from the field (Wright is second at 50.5%) and an amazing 11 of 17 on three-point attempts. Edwards' prowess can be attributed to his patience. He almost never rushes or forces a jump shot, instead making sure he's squared to the basket and his feet are under him.

On the other hand, two areas seem to be the Patriots' constant sources of pain and frustration: finishing at the rim, and defending without fouling. Mason's starting big men, Johnny Williams and Erik Copes, finished 1 of 9 from the field, and both are shooting around 40% for the season. Copes has been slowed by his recovery from offseason hip surgery, but Mason fans expected much more from Williams in his return from a medical redshirt year. The Patriots need one or more of their post players to step up, whether it be Copes, Williams, Jonathan Arledge (who finished with 8 points and 7 boards on Saturday), Serbian freshman Marko Gujanicic (the reigning CAA rookie of the week), or even the rarely used Paris Bennett (hero of the ODU win).

Fouling, meanwhile, has been a team-wide problem. The quality of CAA referees isn't always very high, and some games in recent memory were clearly over-officiated, with even the whisper of contact called as a foul. That didn't seem to be the case on Saturday, at least in my eyes. The officials allowed quite a bit of contact under the basket, and they made their share of questionable calls in both directions, but the Patriots have no one but themselves for most of the 25 fouls they accumulated.

If Mason can cut down on their fouls while maintaining defensive intensity, their ability to hold teams' shooting percentages in check will start to pay off. If they continue to foul, there will be many more nights like Saturday, where a team hangs around solely because of the charity stripe.

Five Years Ago Today: Dre Smith's Perfect Day Sets an NCAA Record

Five years ago today, in a game at James Madison, George Mason junior guard Dre Smith set the NCAA record for most made three-point field goals in a game without a miss, making all 10 of his attempts and smashing the old record of 9-for-9. (The NCAA record for made treys in a game is 15, and many have exceeded 10 makes, but no one else has done it without a miss).

Smith's perfect performance, on January 19, 2008, has always held a special place in my college basketball memories, as it was the first road game I ever attended as a George Mason student. There was a large amount of smack talk on Facebook and various message boards (particularly revolving around JMU's "Rock the Convo" slogan for the game) and a significant crowd of Mason fans made the two hour trip southwest to the Convocation Center in Harrisonburg, Va. The smack continued upon our arrival, as many of the Mason students were seated just a few rows from the court, with only a corner separating us from one half of the Madison student section.

Immediately, almost everything went wrong for the Dukes, who fell behind 16-2 less than 4 minutes into the game. The near-capacity crowd was stunned. But JMU responded, hanging tight for the rest of the half, with only a late Patriots push extending the lead beyond 10 to 48-34 at the intermission. Dre Smith's halftime line consisted of 2 made three-pointers and 8 points total, barely gaining attention in what had been a furious half of scoring.

However, the second half was another story. Smith unloaded on three-point baskets at the 17:39, 17:01, and 15:13 marks as the visitors exploded to a 63-46 lead. The Dukes responded with a furious rally of their own, cutting the lead to 73-66 even as Smith bombed them twice more (9:56 and 8:50), at one point doing the only scoring for Mason over a 6-plus minute stretch.

Smith's eighth trey of the night, at the 6:02 mark, was the final straw, sparking a 10-0 run from which the Dukes never recovered. The hometown fans headed for the exits in droves, abandoning the building to a vocal, mocking chorus of "Rock The Convo," as chanted by myself and the other ecstatic Mason students.

Smith lined up another trey at 4:23 to tie the record, then broke it at the 1:30 mark. The final score was 96-75, led by Smith's 34 points. The Convo had definitely been rocked, although not in the way the hosts had intended. It wasn't just Smith who had a hot night, as the Patriots shot almost 66% as a team (for an astounding 1.50 points per possession), with John Vaughan scoring 20 points while Will Thomas and Folarin Campbell each added 16.

Some of us, myself included, were unaware of the history we had just witnessed until after the game. (Was it 7? 8? We'd lost track). The whispers started as we were filing out of the gym, as the word spread. No, we weren't crazy, he really hadn't missed a trey all night. Better yet, it was an NCAA record, someone asserted. The word spread. It wasn't 8. It wasn't even 9. He'd hit 10!

The next season, 2008-09, the NCAA moved the three-point line back one foot to it's current 20-foot, 9-inch specification. So can we call that the Dre Smith Rule? Not really, since the change was first announced in 2007, but if there were any remaining questions about whether the collegiate three-pointer needed a rule change, Smith erased them. And now, with the difficulty increased, it's a record that could last for a long, long time.

All ten three-pointers, from multiple angles:

A Tale Of Two Halves (Recap of James Madison vs. George Mason)

Traditionally, James Madison is George Mason's biggest rival in the CAA. However, with JMU routinely failing to be competitive for most of the last decade, and Mason having won 17 of the last 18 meetings in the series prior to last Tuesday night, there had been a sense, at least among younger Patriots fans, that VCU was becoming our true rival.

This burning passion was fueled by incidents like the Rams' repeated elimination of Mason from the CAA tournament (including Eric Maynor's incredible one-man comeback to beat Mason in the 2007 CAA championship), and Sherrod Wright's buzzer-beating three-pointer in a regular season match-up last year. But now that VCU has left the CAA for the Atlantic 10 (or 14, or 16), I believe we have to say JMU is once again Mason's primary rival.

The CAA schedule makers must not have seen things the same way, as they placed the Madison at Mason game on a weeknight for the first time in a decade, and compounded that by scheduling it on a Tuesday night in January, before the students had returned from break.

The first half was almost hard to watch. Erik Copes scored a quick two on the Patriots first possession, but then both teams got off to ugly starts from the field. A pair of Enoch Hood free throws gave the Dukes their first lead, 10-9, at the under-12 media time out.

Fouls and turnovers continued to be a theme, with more scoring done via the free throws than via field goals. Sherrod Wright, George Mason's undisputed leader, found no space to work in the JMU defense, failing  in his increasingly creative attempts to drive to the basket, but drawing numerous fouls. Wright would finish the game only 5 of 13 from the field, but he made 12 of 16 free throws.

Freshman Ron Curry finally provided a spark for the visitors, hitting three three-pointers in a three-minute span to give the Dukes a 29-22 lead with 4:27 remaining in the half. Taylor Bessick made it 31-22, and George Mason called time out. From there, the Patriots were able to contain the Dukes for the rest of the half, holding them to 1 for 4 from the floor, while cutting the deficit to 33-28, highlighted by a Corey Edwards steal and an emphatic Anali Okoloji dunk. Wright blocked Curry's three-point try at the buzzer.

Mason was not playing well, and despite the late spurt, it really felt like the Dukes could win. But with the deficit down to five, George Mason began to steadily chip away as the second half began. Complicating matters, starting center Copes, generally seen as the key to Mason's post defense, picked up his third foul less than a minute into the half.

The second half started slowly too, as the two teams largely traded baskets, before a Johnny Williams layup reduced the Dukes team to 41-38 at the 13:59 mark. Enoch Hood countered to make it 43-38, but then the Patriots began to push the pace and press full court, with Bryon Allen at point guard. Allen scored a layup when JMU failed to get back quickly enough on defense after Hood's basket. Then, Williams blocked a shot, and Paris Bennett passed ahead to Wright, to a cutting Allen, for a three-point play to tie the game.

Hood got open in the lane for a dunk, but again the Dukes didn't get back fast enough, and Allen found Wright for a wide open three-pointer, to finally give Mason the lead, 46-45, with 10 minutes to play. Goins made one of two free throws, and, after a Patriots miss, converted a layup, but freshman Marko Gujanicic answered for the Patriots, hitting a three-pointer on another nice pass from Allen.

Goins got the lead back for JMU one more time at 7:47, but then the Patriots went on a 9-0 run, fueled by their full court pressure and some very poor Dukes shot selection. Gujanicic hit a second three-pointer from almost the same spot, and Vertrail Vaughns and Bryon Allen each scored again on the fast break. Rather suddenly it was 59-50 with under 5 minutes to play, and the Dukes never recovered.

A Rayshawn Goins layup made it 62-57, but the Dukes could get no closer, as the Patriots made 6 of 8 free throws to close out the win, 68-57.  Gujanicic finished with his first career double-double, scoring 10 points and collecting 10 rebounds. Wright led all scorers with 23 points, while Goins led the Dukes with 13 and Curry added 11.

After shooting 5 of 10 on three-pointers in the first half, often wide open, the Dukes were held to 0 for 8 in the second half, as the Patriots seemed to adjust to what has been a season-long struggle to defend the arc. Meanwhile, the Patriots were 3 for 9 in the second half, after a miserable 1 for 5 in the first half, with all 3 coming in a short span. The flurry of late three-pointers seemed to open the lane up for Bryon Allen and others to drive to the basket.

For the Tribe, Close Losses Becoming a Habit (Recap of George Mason vs Willian & Mary)

Last Saturday afternoon I made the drive three hours south to Williamsburg, Va. with some friends for the George Mason game at the College of William and Mary. (I'd hoped to recap this game a little sooner, but I've tried to make it up by providing some photos this time).

The Tribe have had one of the better seasons in what has been an ugly non-conference showing for the CAA overall. They played a relatively weak non-conference schedule, but they beat pretty much all the teams they were supposed to beat. However, when faced with tougher competition, an unfortunate pattern has repeated itself. At Wake Forest, the Tribe blew a late lead and lost by six. At Richmond, they fell in double overtime. At Purdue, they again fell apart down the stretch and lost by seven. Double-digit losses to Miami of Ohio and Vanderbilt ended more poorly, but both times the Tribe was in the game at least until the second half. As a result, William and Mary were still very much an unknown going into the Mason game.

This was my first visit to Kaplan Arena, an 8,600-seat gym that the Tribe unfortunately rarely fills. On the whole, it was a pleasant experience. The seating bowl and sight lines are underrated. One inconsistency I noted was that the concession stands and restrooms seemed small for so large a venue, but they were sufficient for the 3,506 on hand. The College’s students were still away on winter break, which meant there weren’t many students on hand, and also, apparently meant there was no pep band, and only a token number of cheerleaders.

A friend of mine was able to score us tickets right behind the George Mason bench, which provided a rare glimpse into just how much communications happens during the game, and who the most vocal coaches and players are. I was surprised by how constantly some of Mason’s bench players were yelling to their teammates on the court -- for example, warning them about an open shooter on their blind side.

For once, George Mason got off to a hot start, hitting their first three shots for a 7-0 lead and forcing a quick William and Mary timeout. A Sherrod Wright fast break dunk made it 11-2 before the Tribe found their offense, fueled by back-to-back three pointers from guards Brandon Britt and Marcus Thornton. The two teams traded baskets for the next few minutes, leaving the score at 18-11 Patriots at the 13 minute mark.

From there, the home team began to tighten the game, as junior forward Tim Rusthoven asserted his presence in the paint for back to back buckets, and the visitors turned it over twice, then committed some cheap fouls. Tribe leading scorer Marcus Thornton cut the lead to 18-17 with a pair of free throws, before a Wright layup made it 20-17 at the 9:55 mark.

Mason's offense got back on track as Patrick Holloway picked off a pass under the basket, and lead the break back the other way, spinning around two defenders before passing ahead to Edwards in the corner. Edwards quickly passed back to a driving Johnny Williams for the dunk. The Patriots hit the three-pointers and turned offensive boards into baskets, stretching their lead to 31-23 at the under-4 media timeout.

Out of the timeout, a Thornton three-point play ended the 13-4 Patriots run, and ignited the crowd. Energized, the Tribe forced Mason into several bad shots in a row. More frustrating, especially for Hewitt, were several iffy calls by the officials. First, Wright appeared to be hit in the head and fouled hard on a layup, yet was called for a charge. Second, a Mason put back was waived off for supposed offensive basket interference, even though to my eye (and apparently Hewitt's) the ball hit the rim and deflected away from the rim before it was touched. Third, a Vertrail Vaughns three-pointer was waived off because of a three-second call in the paint (the only one of the game despite plenty of standing around by both teams).

All parties, not just the Mason faithful, became frustrated when the shot clock was inadvertently reset on an emphatic Erik Copes blocked shot, and the referees needed nearly five minutes to find the real shot clock time via video review. Hewitt spent most of the stoppage complaining about the previous calls, especially the interference play and Wright's blow to the head, and continued the conversation at halftime, before heading to the locker room.

Mason was fortunate that the half was almost over, because nothing broke their way over the last few minutes of the first half. The crowd was loud and in to the action, the Tribe were hot, and Mason couldn't get a stop or make a shot themselves, failing to score a field goal for the last 4:38 of the first half. The Patriots managed only a pair of Wright free throws and went to the locker room down 37-33.

During the first half, Mason coach Paul Hewitt began to experiment with a new lineup, placing both point guards (the starter Corey Edwards and his backup Bryon Allen) on the floor at the same time. This is a move that some Mason fans have speculated about for weeks, and it seemed to pay off, as Edwards acted at the distributor on offense, while Allen was able to focus on defense and his ability to run the floor and drive to the basket.

The second half began with the two teams slowly trading baskets for the first six minutes or so, but then Mason began to go on a run, as Wright scored two quick baskets and assisted on a third, giving the Patriots their first lead of the half on a steal and layup. William and Mary quickly called time out with 12:20 to play, trailing 45-43.The Tribe missed two three-point attempts on the ensuing possession, before Bryon Allen made a free throw for Mason, and Brandon Britt hit a layup to cut the Tribe deficit to one.

Edwards pushed the ball quickly up the floor after the made basket, finding freshman sharpshooter Patrick Holloway all alone in the left corner, and Holloway hit on a lightning quick three-pointer before the Tribe defense could get back. Mason had the momentum now, and Jonathan Arledge hit a pair of free throws to stretch the lead to 51-45 Patriots with 10:38 to play.

But the Tribe, and especially Tim Rusthoven, weren't done. Rusthoven found ways to get deep in the paint against the Mason frontcourt, and scored two layups and knocked down an and-one free throw to help cut the deficit to 53-51. Wright, who already had 18 points for the Patriots, countered with a layup, but then made a very bad decision, picking up a dead ball technical foul for taunting.

Marcus Thornton (19 points) made both technical free throws, and then a layup, trying the game at 55-all, and Brandon Britt added one of two from the line to pull the home team back ahead, 56-55. Now was the danger point for the Patriots. Yet again, the momentum was slipping away from them. But Wright stepped up, seemingly fueled by his frustration with his own mistake. The junior scored 10 points in a six minute stretch to finish with a career high 28, and Johnny Williams (9 points) added a huge three-point play.

The Tribe were forced to trade free throws for layups, and the Patriots made 7 of 11 at the line down the stretch. Four straight empty possessions for William and Mary (7-6, 1-1 CAA) provided an insurmountable 68-61 deficit, and Mason held off the Tribe for a 73-66 win. Yet again, the Tribe held a late lead (58-57 with 5:21 to play) before folding down the stretch, giving up a 16-8 closing run to the visitors.

Despite the loss, I was impressed by what I saw from the College. It's hard to believe that Tim Rusthoven (19 points and 11 rebounds) is still only a junior in what feels like his sixth season in the CAA. The 6'9" forward has learned how to use his size and proper positioning down low. Just about every time he was able to post up and get deep enough into the paint, he scored, often drawing a foul as well from Mason's frustrated big men. The legend of "Beasthoven" will continue to grow if he repeats his performance on Saturday.

Three players did all the scoring for the Tribe -- Rusthoven and Thorton with 19 and Britt with 18, but they got little help from their teammates. Fellow starters Matt Rum and Kyle Galliard finished a combined 3-11 from the field, and the bench contributed exactly 2 additional points. The big three put up some very nice numbers, but they're going to need some help from their teammates if William and Mary want to capitalize on a weakened CAA.

As for the visiting Patriots (8-6, 1-1 CAA), each game for the last month or so has brought continued development from Corey Edwards as the starting point guard. Saturday, Edwards (10 points, 5 assists, 1 turnover) was able to keep himself out of foul trouble and play 33 minutes. This development allowed Bryon Allen to slide over and play shooting guard, where he seemed much more comfortable.

Another positive for Mason (besides the obvious -- Wright's continued dominance) was that they didn't let their mistakes snowball this time. Lapses on offense or defense didn't last long enough for the Tribe to pull away. To be fair, the home team had some opportunities, but they didn't have the unbelievable luck that Northeasten had in shooting 64% in the second half against Mason earlier in the week.

A New Year Ends An Old Streak (Recap of Northeastern vs George Mason)

Every once in a while, there’s a match up on the schedule that you circle when it first comes out, and feel just isn’t going to end well, for some reason. The CAA opener between George Mason and Northeastern this past Thursday was one of those games.

I knew that Northeastern expected to get their senior leader Jonathan Lee back from a foot injury a week or two in advance of the game. And I knew that there would be a small crowd on a weeknight in January, with the students home for winter break. Likewise, I’ve watched all season as Mason failed to defend the three point line, a place that Lee and Northeastern’s leading scorer during Lee’s absence, Joel Smith, both excel. Even worse, I realized that the Huskies were the last CAA team to come to Fairfax and win, in the final home game of the 2010 season, before Mason completed back-to-back perfect 9-0 home CAA performances. Would Northeastern be the bookend to that streak?

The game started a little slowly, with the Patriots trailing 4-0 at the 17:43 mark before redshirt junior Johnny Williams stuck back an Anali Okoloji miss for the home team’s first field goal. Quincy Ford immediately responded with a three-pointer to make it 7-2 Huskies. From there, Sherrod Wright went on a personal 9-2 run over the next two minutes to make it 11-9 in favor of George Mason -- aided by 3 Northeastern turnovers.

A beautiful pass from sophomore point guard Corey Edwards led to a Marko Gujanicic uncontested layup. Then, Jonathan Arledge turned an offensive rebound into another basket, stretching the lead to 15-9 before a Reggie Spencer layup broke the run.

The next four minutes saw more of a defensive struggle, as steals, turnovers, fouls, and missed shots by both teams slowed the pace up, with the score 20-16 Patriots at the under-8 media timeout. Out of the timeout, the Huskies scored 4 quick points to tie the game, but then Edwards found reserve guard Vertrail Vaughns all alone in the corner, and Vaughns knifed through the defense for a contested reverse layup. The shot seemed to give the slumping Vaughns some much-needed confidence, and he connected from long distance on the next possession,

But every time Mason got the lead, Northeastern had an answer. A pair of Ford free throws and a three-pointer by Jonathan Lee (20 points) from Ford tied the game yet again, with 4:58 to go in the half. From there, the Huskies offense experienced a drought that saw them score only three free throws and then one layup with 2 seconds to go, but with Edwards on the bench with two fouls, the Patriots offense slowed. Mason was only able to stretch the lead to 37-30 at the half.

Several things stood out to me in the first half, as I looked for signs of game-by-game improvement from George Mason in what has been a frustrating season. The biggest positive was the performance of Mason’s forwards, especially Jonathan Arledge and Erik Copes. Both have had their struggled catching and holding onto loose balls, whether in the post, at the rim, or on the floor, and yet they showed very good hands Thursday, as Arledge was good for 9 rebounds and 2 steals, and Copes for 9 rebounds and 3 blocks.

The second half began ominously, as Northeastern sank their first three shots, while Johnny Williams committed his third foul just 31 seconds into the half. A wide open three ball by Edwards off a beautiful kickout from Copes temporarily maintained some separation for the Patriots, 42-37, but the Huskies had returned from the locker room with increased intensity, while the Patriots seemed to have lost theirs. Arledge missed a dunk, which led to a Lee three-pointer in transition, and then David Walker tied it with a dunk at 16:14.

Out of the first media timeout, the Patriots showed better passing and better defense, forcing two Northeastern turnovers and stretching the lead to 50-44, with Wright doing the lion’s share.

Northeastern called a timeout with a little over 13 minutes remaining, and the game began to shift. Allen, spelling Edwards at the point, turned it over three times, and Walker assisted on three straight baskets as the Huskies tied the game up once more, at 52-all with 9:57 to play.

It seemed by now that Northeastern had found a strategy to break down the George Mason defense, and the pattern would repeat itself many more times: Drive toward the basket, then pass out to the perimeter, where at least one jump-shooter would be wide open as the Patriots defense collapsed inward, then never reset.

As the second half progressed, it seemed that the visitors from Boston couldn’t miss, but for a while, the home team hung right with them. Vaughns (twice) and Edwards traded three pointers with Zach Stahl (twice) and Demetrios Pollard, while Wright chipped in two for Mason and Stahl converted two free throws and a two.

The lead changed hands several times, until Northeastern went ahead for good, 65-63, on Stahl’s three ball off a kick-out from Quincy Ford (18 points) with 4:56 to play. Mason was helpless to stop the barrage, despite two Paul Hewitt timeouts, as the visitors suddenly went ahead 73-63. Northeastern would finish the game shooting 64% in the second half, including 6-of-9 on three point attempts.

Suddenly confronted with a ten-point hole, the Patriots seemed to get the message, and picked up their intensity, as they took 11 field goal attempts in the final 3 minutes, but they were simply out of time and Mason was forced to start giving fouls. After an Allen layup, they didn’t score another point until Wright’s pair of free throws (19 points) with 49 seconds to play broke the ice. The 6’9” Arledge made it 78-72 on his second three three-pointer of the season with 23 seconds remaining, but the Patriots could get no closer.

The Huskies (6-7, 1-0) made their last six free throws, winning 84-74, and putting up a very impressive 54 points in the second half against a Patriots squad that had come in holding opponents to a CAA low 64 points per game. After only losing one home game in the previous two-plus seasons, Mason (7-6, 0-1) has now lost back-to-back games at the Patriot Center.

All the more frustrating for me personally was that I saw some very good signs from individual players, before the game got out of hand. Corey Edwards has continued to develop as Mason’s starting point guard, finishing with 7 assists and 0 turnovers. The sophomore is now averaging 9 points, 3.5 assists, 1.5 steals, and only 1.8 turnovers in roughly 24 minutes a game over his last 4 games. Jonathan Arledge has struggled in the past with how to use his very long arms to play good defense without getting caught reaching in/around/over his man, but he showed improving skills around and above the rim on offensive and defense (evidenced by his 9 rebounds and 9 rebounds). Redshirt junior Vertrail Vaughns, who offered instant offense off the bench as a freshman (over 49% on treys) and averaged 8.8 points a season ago, finally reminded Mason fans what he can do, breaking out of a season-long slump with 13 points on 5-11 shooting.

As for Northeastern, I was most impressed by 6’5” freshman Zach Stahl, who finished 5 out of 8 from the field, including 2-for-2 on three pointers and 3-for-3 at the line, for a career high 15 points in 20 minutes of play. If Stahl can become a consistent fourth option to complement Ford, Lee, and Smith, the Huskies are going to be a very dangerous team in a weak year for the CAA.

Only Brownies and Ice Cream Can Ease This Pain (Recap of George Mason vs. Hofstra)

Coming into last night's game, in six of their eight conference losses, Hofstra has lost by a total of twenty five points.  It's never been a question of heart.   The Pride have played hard all season, and with very few exceptions, they have been very competitive in their games this season.  Hofstra even has three non conference wins over teams that are in first place in their conference (LIU, Cleveland State and Iona).  That's what makes it so surprising that they didn't have a single CAA win entering last Saturday evening.

In an earlier article this season, I wrote about why the Pride have lost so many games this season.  Turnovers and two point field goal percentage defense have been their achilles heels for the most part.  Still, having seen in person this team beat several good teams is what makes it most frustrating.  I am sure that many fellow Hofstra fans probably have felt the same frustration this season

But there was a glimmer of hope last Saturday evening as my friend Tieff and I stood outside the entrance to the Spiro Sports Center Gym on the campus of Wagner College before the LIU-Wagner game.  We were listening to the end of the Hofstra-James Madison game on my WRHU app for the IPhone.  The Pride had led most of the way until losing the lead late.  It was like the story line to many of their games this season; lead for a good part of the game only to lose at the end.  But Steve Mejia, who had struggled all season in part due to injury, hit a three point play with six seconds left to give Hofstra their first conference win of the season; a 71-69 win over JMU.

Finally, the Pride had some momentum entering their Wednesday night contest vs. George Mason. This time Hofstra was back home at the Mack Center as the students were back as well.  It was nice to see the Lions' Den packed again. In fact, we had two enterprising students dress up as referees.  Before the game, they followed the CAA officials around, mimicking their every move.  Too bad they couldn't officiate the game as well.

My son Matthew and I took our usual seats.  It was another free give away night as we were each given coffee mugs.  I don't have to worry about my six year old son drinking coffee for a while.  He was content to have his pre game ritual of a pretzel and a bottle of water.

If the Pride were going to build upon their success from Saturday night, they would have to do so against the first place Patriots, who had only lost one conference game entering last night's contest.  Mason Nation was in full force as they filled the entire section behind their bench.  Have a first place team, will travel.

But it was Hofstra that came out looking like the best team in conference.  The Pride went out to a 9-0 lead, looking aggressive and confident.  Mike Moore and Nathaniel Lester combined to score the Pride's first nine points as Hofstra looked sharp on offense.

Meanwhile, Mason couldn't hit the side of barn nor could they hold onto the keys to the barn.  In the first five minutes, the Patriots missed their first five shots and matched that with five turnovers.  But George Mason had recent history on their side.

That's because during this season, Hofstra had started out strong in several games, building big leads, only to hit an ice cold stretch and allow their opponents back in the game.  In a recent game vs. Northeastern, Hofstra scored the first nine points of the game as well, only to see the Huskies score the next twelve points.  Northeastern would end up winning a nailbiter 64-62.

Sure enough, the Pride's shooting went frigid as they went without a field goal for almost six minutes.  Little by little, Mason cut into the lead.  But the Patriots' shooting was equally as arctic.  Over the first twenty minutes, George Mason would be four of twenty three from the field.

The first nearly twenty minutes of the game were comical.  You had brutally bad shooting, two teams carelessly turning the ball over, lane violations and rugby scrums. All that was missing was music from the Benny Hill show.  After eleven minutes of game action, the score was incredibly Hofstra 12 George Mason 7.

What kept the Patriots in the game though was their foul shooting, especially from Jonathan Arledge.  Mason, who came into the game with the second most free throw attempts and the second most free throws made, went eleven of thirteen from the free throw line, with Arledge a perfect six for six from the charity stripe.  The eleven free throws accounted for nearly fifty eight percent of their points in the first half.

Though Hofstra was not shooting well and not careful with the ball, they were playing hard as they always do. Poor Stephen Nwaukoni crashed to the floor during several rebound attempts.  I thought on the third time they were going to have to carry him back to the bench.  But with help from his teammates he kept getting back up and stayed in the game.

Nwaukoni was in better shape than Ryan Pearson though, who had to leave the game due to being hit in the face with a tipped pass.  Pearson, the Patriots leading scorer on the season, was on the sideline bleeding being attended to by the trainer.  To say  the first half was physical was an understatement.  After a particularly hard foul by Arledge on Dwan McMillan, Matthew turned to me and said "I hate George Mason right now."  Probably McMillan felt the same way too.

The first half mercifully ended with Hofstra holding a 20-19 lead.  Despite shooting seventeen percent and turning the ball over eleven times, George Mason was amazingly down one point at the half, thanks to defense, rebounding and free throw shooting.  The teams combined for twenty turnovers and twenty fouls in the first half.  Hofstra shot only eight of twenty three from the field and  was only two of five from the free throw line.

It didn't take very long for the Patriots to come out firing.  With a Hofstra student holding a giant Andre Cornelius credit card in the front row due to his arrest last summer for using a stolen credit card, Cornelius buried two three pointers to start the second half to put George Mason out to a 25-20 lead.  Then Pearson started getting into the action with a three pointer and a couple of free throws.  The lead was extended to eight, 36-28 with about ten and a half minutes left.

But as I noted, despite their record, the Pride have played hard all season.  And Hofstra rallied, scoring eight straight points over the next two and a half minutes.  David Imes nailed a three pointer from the left corner and the game was tied at thirty eight with a little more than eight minutes left.   The crowd was finally into the game.  Then the fans had even more reason to cheer as Mike Moore's three pointer gave Hofstra their first lead of the second half, 41-40.

The Pride actually took a three point lead before Cornelius hit his third three pointer of the night to tie the game at forty three with five and half minutes left.  The teams then exchanged the lead three times over the next couple of minutes.  An Imes jumper gave Hofstra the lead 50-48 with a little more than two minutes left in the game.

But George Mason would respond with a Sherrod Wright jumper and one.  Wright would hit his free throw to put the Patriots up one, 51-50.  Free throws would be the deciding factor down the stretch.  And as fate would have it, just like all conference season, Hofstra missed four open jumpers in the last ninety seconds in the game.  Four more Patriots free throws would seal Hofstra's fate.  After Shemiye McLendon's layup was blocked with Mike Morrison, George Mason ran out the clock.   Another close game, 55-50.  Another close loss for the Pride.

Moore, the leading scorer in the CAA, led all scorers with eighteen points. Lester added twelve points for Hofstra.  Pearson, the third leading scorer in the CAA, only had seven points on the night.  But the Mason bench had his back.  Reserve guard Sherrod Wright led the Patriots with fifteen points while Arledge added ten points.  George Mason's bench outscored Hofstra's bench 36-6.

Hofstra actually outshot George Mason from the field, hitting five more field goals, as both teams hit five three pointers.  But the big difference was the free throw line.  The Patriots hit twenty of twenty three free throws while Hofstra was five of eleven.from the charity stripe.  If anyone ever tells you that free throws don't matter, just show them the boxscore of this game.

As we made our way out of the arena, I was at a loss for words.  It was now Hofstra's seventh loss in conference decided by six points or less.  Matthew however was not a loss for words.  He expressed his frustration over how Hofstra was beating a first place team.  All I could do was say "I know. I know."   When we got home, my wife had made brownies.  Sometimes, even at your lowest point, inspiration strikes.   I cut a brownie from the tray, put it in a bowl and put moose tracks ice cream on top.

As I started writing this article, I had my comfort food.  Another close game.  Another close loss.