Mason Falls in Newark
February 2, 2012 · 1 Comments
by Cody Norman
Photo Credit: John Powell
Mason 60, Delaware 65
NEWARK, DEL. – It happened one game too many.
Despite their first place rank, the Patriots have made a bad habit of allowing opponents to hang around for far too long. And that is a dangerous habit to develop entering the final month of the regular season.
After allowing the Blue Hens to jump out to a 17-point advantage late in the first half, Mason clawed back.
“We didn’t respond well [to the physicality] early,” Paul Hewitt said. “We were driving to the basket, kept getting bumped off and we didn’t play through it.”
Behind a strong start by Mike Morrison and a momentum-changing finish by Ryan Pearson, the Patriots went into the locker room down just eight points.
But Delaware wouldn’t give in. The Blue Hens rattled off a 7-2 run and extended their lead to 13 just four minutes into the second half.
In what was a relatively quiet performance, Ryan Pearson still managed to light up the scoreboard with 25 points and eight rebounds. He was 8-for-22 from the field, settling for eight 3-pointers on the night.
“I don’t think it was anything that they did,” Pearson said. “I just rushed my shots. A lot of those were chippies. I need to make those shots. My teammates expect me to make those shots. And I just have to make those shots.”
Postgame Press Conference – Paul Hewitt
Postgame Press Conference – Ryan Pearson
His frontcourt counterpart and fellow senior Mike Morrison scored nine points in the first half but followed that effort with a rather silent two points in the second half.
“I was disappointed that, in the first half after we missed a few shots, we didn’t go back inside to Mike and Ryan,” Hewitt said. “Especially after they got off to such good starts.”
Sherrod Wright rounded out the Patriots in double-figures, scoring 12 points and continued his productivity since Hewitt moved him to the bench last month.
Starting guards Bryon Allen, Andre Cornelius and Vertrail Vaughns shot a combined 2-for-18 on the night, scoring just eight points in the loss.
“We just didn’t make shots tonight,” Hewitt said. “We had a lot of open looks. We just didn’t knock them down.”
The Patriots will return to the floor on Saturday night as they host Old Dominion in the homecoming game.
You are incorrect. First, baucese they are starting to look like each other like a person and his pet and second becasue Gisele isn’t wearing a scrunchie. Tom is.