Mason can't close out Charleston, lose third straight

George Mason has now dropped five of six after last night's 85-83 loss against College of Charleston. The game ended on a bad call against Ryan Pearson after his basket that would have tied the game with a few seconds remaining was disallowed because of an offensive foul. Say what you want to about if it was a bad call or not because it wasn't the reason Mason lost and both coaches believed it was in fact a charge. If you want to find something to blame this loss on you can start with the free-throw shooting where they were 14 of 25 in the 2nd half and at one point missed 7 straight. They got a lot of chances at the foul line but just couldn't capitalize and it killed them late. The Patriots did however defend the perimeter better and didn't allow any of the sharp shooting guards to bury them in the second half. However the missed opportunities at the free throw line and some breakdowns on defense killed Mason late in the game. Rebounding was not an issue for Mason even after losing Pearson for a stretch in the 2nd half due to a rolled ankle. In the end Charleston just had better weapons on offense and more options.

We saw a career night for Johnny Williams who finished with 18 but also saw for a third straight game Cam Long held below his scoring average. The problem for the Patriots was that as they keep getting these types of performances from the freshmen they aren't getting consistent play from their veterans. Freshmen Luke Hancock, Johnny Williams, Kevin Foster and Sherrod Wright combined for 53 points and 21 rebounds. After games like this you can say the future is bright but it still leaves a question of when these guys will finally gel and play well as a team.

NCAA Basketball