Patriots squander lead, lose to Fairfield

FAIRFAX — Despite career performances from almost every player that stepped onto the court for the George Mason men’s basketball team last night, none of it was enough to overcome a recurrence of second-half complacency that has plagued the Patriots this year.

Mason built a 19-point lead by halftime and stretched it to 27 with 16 minutes to go in the game, but Fairfield stormed back to force overtime and then eliminate the Patriots from the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament by a score of 101-96, disappointing most of the 2,062 in attendance.

With the Patriots leading by three with less than 20 seconds left in regulation, the Stags’ Mike Evanovich made a deep 3-pointer to tie the game at 87 apiece. Evanovich had victimized the Patriots all night from behind the arc, sinking a career-high 9 of 14 on his way to a game-best 32 points.

“That was amazing,” Mason coach Jim Larranaga said. “Evanovich was spectacular. He was deep and on-target all night. That is probably the most [3-pointers] we’ve given up not only this season, but in a long time.”

The Patriots seemed content with their lead in the second period, at times requiring additional motivation from Larranaga to keep pushing the pace of the game, particularly on offense.

Several times Larranaga called out to his players to hustle and motioned with his hands to head up the court faster. It was a stark contrast from the first half when Mason kept the pressure on Fairfield with lightning-quick passes.

“In the second half,” Larranaga said, “I felt we didn’t do as good a job of sharing the ball. We quick-shot a lot instead of shooting layups. I don’t know what that is, maybe it’s the players themselves, they get very conservative. We had a chance on a number of fast breaks and we didn’t get the ball up. We’ve struggled with that all season.”

Sophomore Mike Morrison said if there was one thing to learn from this loss, it was to put opposing teams away when you have the chance.

“You can’t let it come down to last-second shots,” he said. “Beat them early. Once you’ve got them, win it. Whether it’s a 20-point lead, a 30-point lead or a four-point lead, don’t let it come down to last shots and calls and free throws. Just finish it.”

Mason dominated inside, outscoring Fairfield 50-34 as Morrison led the way with a career-high 25 points — surpassing his career-best by seven — thanks in part to alley-oop plays from Luke Hancock and strong post moves.

Sophomore Andre Cornelius blew past his previous career mark of 19 points with a team-leading 28 and he made 6 of 10 3’s, another career-best. He was 4 of 6 from long range at the half and had 15 points.

Hancock became the first Mason player to record double figures in assists since Folarin Campbell did it in 2006, recording 11 last night.

Ryan Pearson and Isaiah Tate added 16 and 14 points, respectively, rounding out the Patriots who reached double digits.

The Patriots were without junior and Freedom High School alum Cam Long, who was suspended for the contest after failing to uphold team responsibilities according to a release from the school.

Also absent was redshirt freshman Kevin Foster, who recently announced that he will transfer from Mason, likely to a school closer to his Lakeland, Fla. home.

“Kevin has some personal reasons that I’m not at liberty to share,” Larranaga said. “He’s torn between being here [in Fairfax] and being in Florida.”

The Stags (22-11), playing in their first postseason since 2003 when they reached the National Invitational Tournament, had four players score in double figures with Anthony Johnson (25), Derek Needham (21) and Lyndon Jordan (10) joining Evanovich.

Staff writer Joe Conroy may be reached at 703-878-8047.