Mason escapes upset bid by William & Mary

By Dave Utnik

Published: February 28, 2008

FAIRFAX — When he was introduced to the crowd at Patriot Center Wednesday night, Folarin Campbell nearly leapt out of his seat on the George Mason bench.

He was about to play the final home game of his record-setting collegiate career and the senior guard was ready to do a little entertaining.

Fittingly, it all started with the smile and charisma that have become synonymous with the men’s basketball program, followed by a traditional chest bump with teammate Dre Smith. 

Then Campbell, the only player in school history with at least 1,400 points, 400 rebounds, 300 as-sists and 100 steals, put on a farewell performance to remember as the Patriots clinched a first-round bye in the upcoming Colonial Athletic Association Tournament with a 60-54 victory over William & Mary.

“This whole game I played with so much emotion. I was so excited,” Campbell said. “I’m playing with so much adrenaline right now.”

On a night when they paid tribute to all three seniors — Campbell, Will Thomas and Jordan Carter — the Patriots (20-9, 12-5 CAA) took over sole possession of second place with a little help front CAA front-runner VCU, which defeated UNC-Wilmington, 72-58 also Wednesday.

The seniors, who have combined for 81 wins over the past four seasons, received framed photo-graphs during a pre-game ceremony and then helped ensure that Mason won 20 games for the third time in Jim Larranaga’s 11 years as head coach.

“We’ve been roommates for four years and we’ll be friends for life,” Campbell said. “It was sen-ior night and as long as we came out with a win everything was all right.”

Though Campbell led the way on his 22nd birthday, just about everybody played a part in the Pa-triots’ 12th conference victory, including the team’s future playmaker, freshman Cam Long, who had 12 points, two assists and two steals in 27 minutes.

Thomas, who is eighth in the nation in field goal percentage (.632), set a school record with his 113th start and wound up with 10 points and eight rebounds, while junior John Vaughan finished with 15 points — on 5-of-7 shooting.

“I didn’t want to send my teammates out with a loss,” Vaughan said. “I just wanted to come in and shoot with confidence.”

Campbell, who is averaging 20.4 points and shooting 49.1 percent from the field over the past 12 games, hit a jumper from the left side for Mason’s first basket of the game and then pretty much sealed the win with a two-handed slam dunk that put the Patriots up by seven, 57-50, with 1:49 re-maining.

“He tried last home game and came up a little short. This time he went up with two hands,” Vaughan said. “That was a big play. It was a great drive and a great finish at the rim.”

David Schneider led William & Mary (14-14) with 19 points, but the Tribe slipped into fifth place with their fifth loss in six games.

The Patriots, meanwhile, head to Northeastern on Saturday having won two of their last three.

“It was always an accomplishment to get a first round bye,” Vaughan said “We’d love to have the number one seed but we’re going in [to the tournament] with great confidence.”