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| [ PHOTO: THE WASHINGTON POST ] |
Peter Solari, Editor in Chief Follow @4PeteSakeNY
It was just like old times Saturday night in Richmond, Virginia.
The George Mason men's basketball team had its five-game win streak snapped as the Patriots fell to long-time rival Virginia Commonwealth, 79-63 at the Siegel Center.
And even though it wasn't the "Rams vs. Patriots" everyone is excited about this weekend, it was still a pretty important game.
With the loss, Mason fell to 13-9 on the season and 7-2 in the A-10, which drops them out of first place and into a tie for second with Dayton. VCU is now 15-6 on the season and right on Mason's heels at 6-2 in the league.
The Rams have now won eight of the ten meetings between these teams since both schools became members of the Atlantic 10. Of course, as Mason Nation knows, VCU's dominance in this rivalry goes back further than that. The Rams won five of the last seven meetings in Colonial Athletic Association play, as well, and VCU has always been a thorn in the side of George Mason in both the CAA and A-10 tournaments.
Here's the story from George Mason University Athletics:
We're far enough into the season where it's safe to say that while this Mason team is streaky offensively, defense has been their strength this year, and when they fail to show up on that side of the court, things don't go particularly well for the Patriots.
Mason shot 59% from 2-point range, but struggled mightily from beyond the arc, converting on just 2-of-19 (10%) 3-point attempts.
VCU, on the other hand, dominated offensively. A 30% shooting team coming in, the Rams shot 47% from the field on Saturday and knocked down 11 3-pointers, which was the difference in the game.
Mason shot 43% for the game, but their abysmal shooting from deep, and their inability to get stops defensively, did the Patriots in.
"We really battled, but they hit three 3-pointers and made a run we couldn't recover from," Patriots coach Dave Paulsen said. "Our frontcourt played well and Jordan Miller gave us a great effort. We had as good a practice as we ever had yesterday and I'm pleased with our approach. We just can't let this VCU loss turn into two and we have to get ready for Richmond Wednesday."
The Rams finished the game on a 27-12 run and coasted the win. VCU never trailed by more than a single point throughout the game.
Freshman sensation Jordan Miller led the way for George Mason, scoring 14 points and pulling down a game-high 13 rebounds to record the first double-double of his career. Redshirt junior Jarred Reuter added 15 points while sophomore Greg Calixte and senior Otis Livingston finished with 13 points and 10 points, respectively.
Issac Vann's game high 21-points paced VCU. Marcus Evans and Michael Gilmore added 11 points apiece, and Marcus Santos-Silva contributed 10 points to round out the Rams' balanced attack.
The Patriots dominated down low, holding a 42-28 advantage in point-in-the-paint, and held 38-33 edge on the glass, as well, but VCU's hot shooting, especially from deep, was simply too much for Mason to overcome.
But at least the media is having fun with the headlines this Super Bowl weekend. Props the The Washington Post for this one:
Mason will back in The River City this Wednesday, February 6th, when they'll visit the Richmond Spiders for the first of two meetings this season. Tip-off is set for 7 PM ET. The game will be broadcast locally on MASN2 and will be streamed nationally on ESPN+.
#TMMQB #GetPatriotic #MasonNation #GMU #GoMason #BeAPatriot #A10MBB
It was just like old times Saturday night in Richmond, Virginia.
The George Mason men's basketball team had its five-game win streak snapped as the Patriots fell to long-time rival Virginia Commonwealth, 79-63 at the Siegel Center.
Deep ball helps VCU to 79-63 win over George Mason #rva https://t.co/bN8aNIzHPL— RVA Happenings (@RVAHappenings) February 3, 2019
And even though it wasn't the "Rams vs. Patriots" everyone is excited about this weekend, it was still a pretty important game.
Last night, the VCU Rams beat the George Mason Patriots by 16 in a key A-10 college basketball game.— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) February 3, 2019
Tonight, the Los Angeles Rams face the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl.
With the loss, Mason fell to 13-9 on the season and 7-2 in the A-10, which drops them out of first place and into a tie for second with Dayton. VCU is now 15-6 on the season and right on Mason's heels at 6-2 in the league.
Updated A-10 standings:— A10 Talk (@A10Talk) February 3, 2019
Davidson 7-1
George Mason 7-2
Dayton 7-2
VCU 6-2
Duquesne 6-3
Rhode Island 5-4
Saint Louis 5-4
St. Bonaventure 4-4
La Salle 4-4
George Washington 3-5
Saint Joseph's 3-6
Richmond 2-7
Massachusetts 1-8
Fordham 0-8
The Rams have now won eight of the ten meetings between these teams since both schools became members of the Atlantic 10. Of course, as Mason Nation knows, VCU's dominance in this rivalry goes back further than that. The Rams won five of the last seven meetings in Colonial Athletic Association play, as well, and VCU has always been a thorn in the side of George Mason in both the CAA and A-10 tournaments.
Here's the story from George Mason University Athletics:
The two teams played to an early 8-8 tie, then Mason took a 12-11 lead on a lay-in from Reuter at the 12:01 mark of the first half. After a back and forth next few minutes, VCU took a 22-20 lead, then used a 7-1 spurt to go up 31-21 with 3:38 to go in the stanza. Mason cut it to eight (38-30) at the half. The Patriots were within eight at the break, despite going just 1-of-8 from the 3-point line and committing nine turnovers. VCU pushed the lead up to 14 (46-32) at the 18:04 mark of the second half, but at that point, Mason unleashed a 12-0 surge to get right back in the game. The spurt included three buckets from Calixte which helped pull the Green & Gold within three (49-46) with 13:41 remaining in the contest. Mason tied it up at 52-52 on a step-back jumper from Jason Douglas-Stanley, but from there, the Rams converted 3-pointers on three-consecutive possessions to go back up nine (61-52) with 9:16 left. Mason moved back within five (63-58) on a difficult floater from Livingston II at the 7:30 mark, but at that point, the Rams utilized a 12-2 run over the next five minutes to effectively put the game out of reach. The Rams built a 75-60 edge with three minutes to go and wrapped up the victory from there.
We're far enough into the season where it's safe to say that while this Mason team is streaky offensively, defense has been their strength this year, and when they fail to show up on that side of the court, things don't go particularly well for the Patriots.
Mason shot 59% from 2-point range, but struggled mightily from beyond the arc, converting on just 2-of-19 (10%) 3-point attempts.
VCU, on the other hand, dominated offensively. A 30% shooting team coming in, the Rams shot 47% from the field on Saturday and knocked down 11 3-pointers, which was the difference in the game.
Mason shot 43% for the game, but their abysmal shooting from deep, and their inability to get stops defensively, did the Patriots in.
"We really battled, but they hit three 3-pointers and made a run we couldn't recover from," Patriots coach Dave Paulsen said. "Our frontcourt played well and Jordan Miller gave us a great effort. We had as good a practice as we ever had yesterday and I'm pleased with our approach. We just can't let this VCU loss turn into two and we have to get ready for Richmond Wednesday."
The Rams finished the game on a 27-12 run and coasted the win. VCU never trailed by more than a single point throughout the game.
Freshman sensation Jordan Miller led the way for George Mason, scoring 14 points and pulling down a game-high 13 rebounds to record the first double-double of his career. Redshirt junior Jarred Reuter added 15 points while sophomore Greg Calixte and senior Otis Livingston finished with 13 points and 10 points, respectively.
Issac Vann's game high 21-points paced VCU. Marcus Evans and Michael Gilmore added 11 points apiece, and Marcus Santos-Silva contributed 10 points to round out the Rams' balanced attack.
The Patriots dominated down low, holding a 42-28 advantage in point-in-the-paint, and held 38-33 edge on the glass, as well, but VCU's hot shooting, especially from deep, was simply too much for Mason to overcome.
But at least the media is having fun with the headlines this Super Bowl weekend. Props the The Washington Post for this one:
Know this was circulating earlier, but too good not to share again.— Ben Raby (@BenRaby31) February 3, 2019
Headline in @PostSports today after @VCU_Hoops defeated GeorgeMason in men’s hoops. That’s #Rams over #Patriots on #SuperBowlWeekend 🤦♂️ pic.twitter.com/Ap7TZwBVrg
Mason will back in The River City this Wednesday, February 6th, when they'll visit the Richmond Spiders for the first of two meetings this season. Tip-off is set for 7 PM ET. The game will be broadcast locally on MASN2 and will be streamed nationally on ESPN+.
#TMMQB #GetPatriotic #MasonNation #GMU #GoMason #BeAPatriot #A10MBB
