Young players crucial in Patriots’ win
Donna Richardson/For the News & Messenger
Michael Morrison scored 15 points for George Mason.
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By Joe Conroy
Published: November 17, 2008
Nolan, who finished the night with five points, was just one example of the Patriots’ youth contributing in the first two games of the season as the active first-year players combined for 28 points, led by forward Michael Morrison’s 15.
After an overtime scare in the season opener that led to a one-point victory at Vermont on Saturday, the George Mason men wanted to leave little doubt in last night’s contest at the Patriot Center against visiting Brown.
The Patriots never trailed and the Bears tied the game just once — a 2-2 score in the first two minutes of the game.
Taking an early lead and keeping Brown’s front court players from being a factor were the two keys coach Jim Larranaga stressed to his squad.
“We wanted to be sure our starting five took the responsibility to get off to a good start because Brown is a very disciplined team,” said John Vaughan, who led the Patriots with a game-high 18 points. “If they get it going, they can be dangerous, so we wanted to come out and establish our defensive intensity and get on a run.”
Mason began the game with a 9-2 run and added a stretch of 16-4 that lasted from the final minutes of the first half into the second half.
The goal of stopping Brown’s forwards started with stifling defense in the paint and around the basket, limiting the Bears’ clean looks, particularly those by center Matt Mullery. The responsibility of keeping the 6-foot-8 junior from duplicating his 22-point, seven-rebound performance last Friday in a losing effort fell primarily to Darryl Monroe, who is returning from toe surgery that kept him sidelined for 20 months and earned him a medical redshirt last year.
With the help of two early fouls on Mullery, the Patriots succeeded in limiting Brown’s four forwards to just 34 points in the game, led by Peter Sullivan with 15.
“We really took away their inside game, their inside looks and their high-low passes,” Larranaga said. “When you defend someone so well, and you get a lot of stops, you get a lot of opportunities in transition.”
The Patriots held the Bears to just 36.5 percent shooting from the floor and allowed just five 3-pointers. Out-rebounding Brown 40-29 led to George Mason’s 11 fast-break points.
In addition to starting the season 2-0, the margin of victory afforded Larranaga the opportunity to get a look at his bench in a game situation, giving the coach an idea of what he can expect from them later in the season. The bench was not a factor much last year until late in the season when the starters were weary of playing nearly every minute of each game.
“We were a little gassed (tonight),” Larranaga said, “so we needed the bench to come in and give us a lift. They all played the way we need them to play.
“You can’t judge on one home game,” the coach cautioned. “The bench did a good job up at Vermont as well. Andre Cornelius and Ryan Pearson played particularly well. If you can get that kind of production off the bench, that’s pretty good.”
Morrison especially stood out against Brown, adding five rebounds to his point total in just 12 minutes off the bench. Combined with Pearson’s performance against Vermont two days prior, an effort that earned him Colonial Athletic Association Rookie of the Week honors, Larranaga is confident that he can rest his starters Monroe and Louis Bridsong more often without much drop in production.
“Our great senior leadership has brought (the freshmen) along, slowly but surely,” said Vaughan, a senior. “I think that’s starting to show right now.”
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