Fairfax, Va. - Junior guard Andre Cornelius had 22 points to lead a balanced George Mason offense as the Patriots captured an 87-68 win over Hofstra on Wednesday evening at the Patriot Center.
The loss was the Pride's third in a row and drops its record to 14-9 overall and 8-4 in the CAA. George Mason wins its eighth straight as it improves to 18-5 overall and 10-2 in the CAA and pulls into a tie for first with VCU, which dropped a road decision to Northeastern (Hofstra's next opponent).
Hofstra was led by senior guard Charles Jenkins (Queens, N.Y.) with 22 points and seven assists in a losing cause, while junior guard Mike Moore (New Haven, Conn.) had 18. Ryan Pearson had 19 points and 12 rebounds, Cam Long had 17, and Isaiah Tate added 12 for George Mason.
George Mason led by 15 at the break, behind 16 from Cornelius, and pushed the lead up to 20 points at 60-40 with 15:30 left on a three-pointer from Luke Hancock. Hofstra clawed back to within 13 at the 13:40 mark as freshman guard Shemiye McLendon (Vero Beach, Fla.) hit a three-pointer on a fast break, then got it 11 at 72-61 on a Moore bank shot with 7:16 left, but couldn't get it into single digits as George Mason pulled away.
George Mason shot 54.8 percent in the first half on its way to a 49-34 lead at the break. Hofstra led 13-8 after a three-point play from Jenkins, but the Patriots went on a 21-6 run, keyed by eight points from Cornelius, to take a 29-19 lead at the 9:55 mark. Pride senior guard Brad Kelleher (Victoria, Australia) stopped the run with a three-pointer at the 9:45 mark, and hit another jumper with 3:40 left in the half to pull the Pride within 40-30, but Cam Long had a lay-up and a dunk in 9-4 closing stretch that gave the Patriots a 49-34 lead at the break.
The Pride was also victimized by a weird play with the score tied 15-15. George Mason forward Ryan Pearson tried to make a perimeter pass, but a Hofstra defender stepped into the passing lane and knocked the ball in the other direction for an apparent fast break. The ball, though, hit the trail official, and bounced straight to the top of the key into the hands of an unguarded Pearson, who turned and buried a three-pointer to put George Mason in front to stay.
Hofstra was a perfect 11-11 at the foul line, the second time it has had a perfect day at the line this season. Hancock had nine points, seven assists and no turnovers for George Mason, while McLendon had nine points and seven rebounds for Hofstra.
Despite the loss, Hofstra caught a couple of breaks in the standings, as James Madison lost at home to William & Mary, leaving the Dukes one game behind the Pride. Hofstra is also still two games out of first, as VCU dropped only its second league game of the year.
Hofstra will next be in action when it returns home to face Northeastern on Saturday for a 4 p.m. contest. The Pride's most recent home game, on Saturday against Drexel, produced the first sellout at the Mack Sports Complex since February of 2007, as Jenkins broke the school's career scoring record in front of 5,050 fans. Northeastern has won its last four games after a 4-15 start, including today's win over first-place VCU.
