Bucknell University
(5-3)
George Mason
(5-2)
Bucknell's Rallies Fall Short as George Mason Prevails 61-57
11/30/2011 7:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 30, 2011
FAIRFAX, Va. - Cameron Ayers scored a career-high 23 points, but George Mason fought off two big Bucknell rallies and prevailed 61-57 on Wednesday night at the Patriot Center. Mike Muscala added 11 points and 15 rebounds for the Bison, who saw their five-game winning streak end and fell to 5-3.
Ryan Pearson scored 16 points for the Patriots, who improved to 5-2 and won their 18th straight home game dating back to last season. Sherrod Wright added 14 points and Bryon Allen added 12 points and seven rebounds for George Mason, which won 27 games and beat Villanova in the NCAA Tournament last season.
Bucknell fought off a 10-point deficit in the first half, but George Mason built the lead back to nine at 36-27 early in the second half before the Bison rallied once again behind reserves Brian Fitzpatrick and Steven Kaspar.
Fitzpatrick hit two free throws and turned an offensive rebound into a 3-point play, and Kaspar fed Ayers for a 3-pointer to even the game at 36 with 14:04 to play. Kaspar assisted on another Ayers tying trey, and then he fed Muscala for a layup that gave Bucknell the lead back at 41-39.
The Patriots quickly took the lead back on a Pearson layup and a soaring dunk by Sherrod Wright. After a timeout, Muscala hit a jumper, grabbed a defensive rebound, and then fed Kaspar for a driving layup to put the Bison up 46-43.
With 3:52 to play George Mason took the lead back at 55-53 on a fastbreak layup by Vertrail Vaughns. At the other end the Bison found a wide open Muscala under the basket, but he was grabbed from behind as he went up. The foul was ruled to be on the floor, and coming out of a media timeout, Muscala missed the front end of the 1-and-1.
Two free throws by Pearson stretched the Mason lead to four at 57-53, but then Ayers nailed his fifth 3-pointer of the night, and fourth of the second half, to make it 57-56 with 2:36 left. The Bison got a stop, but missed three potential go-ahead jumpers in one possession.
George Mason drained the shot clock, then found Allen on a backdoor layup for a 59-56 lead with 34 seconds left. Ayers then missed a rare 3-point jumper that would have tied it, but Muscala pulled down the offensive rebound and was fouled. He made 1 of 2 at the line, and then Pearson made 1 of 2 with 19 seconds left to make it 60-57.
Bucknell found Muscala at the top of the key, but his potential tying three was off the mark. Vaughns made 1 of 2 at the line to ice it.
Bucknell was slow out of the gates in the opening minutes, as George Mason used a 9-0 run to grab an early 14-4 lead. But the Bison quickly got back in it, with Willman sparking a run of 10 straight points. Willman hit two jumpers in the land and fed Muscala for a jam that tied the game at 14-all.
The Bison took their first lead of the night at 18-16 on a 17-foot jumper from Joshea Singleton. The lead was three at 25-22 after two free throws by Ayers, but Bucknell went ice cold in the final four minutes of the half. Six straight misses led to a 10-0 Patriots run over the final 3:51. Jonathan Arledge's 3-pointer gave George Mason a 32-25 lead with 1:54 left in the half, and the Bison came up with a couple of stops to keep it a seven-point game at the half. Willman finished with eight points, Fitzpatrick had seven Kaspar six points and four assists for the Bison. Bucknell outrebounded the bigger Patriots 36-32, with 11 of the boards coming at the offensive end.
Both teams shot 40 percent from the field but struggled from 3-point range. Bucknell was 5-for-18 from the arc, with Ayers making all five. George Mason was 2-for-12 from long range.
Bucknell is back on the road on Saturday, taking on La Salle at 4 p.m. at Tom Gola Arena.
