Hewitt, Patriots take sole possession of CAA
January 8, 2012 · 0 Comments
by Cody Norman
The stage was set: the Colonial Athletic Association’s best player was set to take on the league’s hottest team.
Ryan Pearson and the Patriots were in the midst of a four game winning streak, their senior forward averaging better than 21 points a night. The Panthers, under new coach Ron Hunter, were enjoying an 11-game streak that saw the unlikely first place team defeat Virginia Commonwealth and Drexel within three days of each other.
The Patriot Center was screaming with members of the green and gold nation, the noise meter topping the 100-decibel mark numerous times throughout the night, and Mason came out tough right from the start.
“We knew it was probably going to be an ugly game,” Paul Hewitt said. “Probably one of those games where you make some mistakes, but we just told the guys to make sure they play through them.”
Midway through the opening half, Bryon Allen tossed a baseball-pass through the defense to Mike Morrison who threw down an emphatic two-handed slam, giving the Patriots the momentum. Using the momentum, the Patriots put together a 13-2 run and grew their lead to eight behind an 11-point effort from Vertrail Vaughns.
Georgia State clawed back, holding the Patriots scoreless for the first five minutes of the second half and tying the game at 31. Mason stopped the run with a 5-0 run of their own, eventually stretching their lead back to eight.
“They play hard,” Hewitt said. “They play right through the whistle and they gave us a lesson in that today.”
The Panthers continued to fight back and regained the lead with five minutes to go. Both teams traded free throws, passing the lead back-and-forth as a result. With 52 seconds remaining, Morrison put back a missed shot by Pearson, barring a striking resemblance to his rebound-flush in last year’s NCAA tournament victory over Villanova.
Morrison turned in another outstanding performance, posting 14 points, a career-high 15 rebounds and four blocks.
“We had a tough time getting any good shots. We eventually settled down and worked the ball and figured out to push the ball so they couldn’t set their defense. We ended up pushing it down their throats as many times as we can. We got a few good runs. We never really got a great flow of offense.”
Pearson was held without a field goal for the first time since the fourth game of his freshman year but managed 10 points, all on free throws.
“They took Ryan away from us — credit to them — but I liked the fact that our guys hung tough, made our free throws and pulled out a win,” Hewitt said.
Clutch free throw shooting and strong defensive stands by Mason eventually outlasted the Panthers, keeping Paul Hewitt and the Patriots undefeated in the conference. They will look to make it five straight wins as they travel to the preseason CAA favorite Drexel on Thursday, a game that will be televised live on ESPNU.
“When we play hard, and we play strong and we play together,” said Vertrail Vaughns, who scored a team-high 17 points, “it’s tough to stop us.”
