Men's Basketball 1/25/2012 10:00:00 PM Brian Bohl

MBB: Strong Defense Not Enough To Push Pride Past Mason

Hempstead, N.Y. - Hofstra erased an eight-point second-half deficit but Sherrod Wright's three-point play with 1:46 left gave George Mason University the lead for good as the Pride fell, 55-50, to the first-place Patriots in a Colonial Athletic Association matchup on Wednesday night at the Mack Sports Complex.

Senior guard Mike Moore scored 18 points, tallied six assists and finished 7-of-12 from the field. But Hofstra still fell to 7-15 and 1-9 in CAA play. Wright scored 15 points off the bench and Jonathan Arledge also scored 10 points as a reserve to lift Mason to 17-5 and 9-1.

Mason's bench out-scored Hofstra's, 36-6, though the Pride held a lead in the final two minutes. Senior forward Nathaniel Lester scored 12 points and junior forward David Imes added nine points and five rebounds on 4-of-6 shooting to give the Pride a lead inside of two minutes.

Imes faked a drive with his right pivot foot and buried a jump shot to put Hofstra ahead, 50-48, with 2:16 remaining. But Wright swung momentum back to Mason, using a pump fake to draw Lester into the air and drew contact to the body. Wright hit the layup while Lester was called for the foul and the made free throw gave Mason the 51-50 lead it would not relinquish.

Hofstra had one last chance to tie it. Junior guard Stevie Mejia, who made the game-winning three-point play for the Pride at JMU on Saturday, launched a potential game-tying right-wing three-pointer that bounced out. Wright grabbed the rebound, drew the foul and hit both free throws with 18.8 seconds left to preserve the win.

Defensively, Hofstra had one its strongest games of the season. Mason's Ryan Pearson entered averaging more than 17 points a game, though head coach Mo Cassara's team limited Pearson to just seven points and two field goals. Mason shot 31.9 percent from the field.

Lester scored in double figures for the CAA-leading 14th straight game, finishing 5-of-15 on field goal attempts.

The Pride led by as much as nine in the first half and also proved they could play from behind. Pearson's layup put Mason ahead, 36-28, for the visitor's largest lead of the game in the second half. Hofstra responded with an 8-0 run, capped by Moore and Imes' back-to-back three-pointers to tie the score at 36.

The Pride's defense turned in its best single-half performance of the season against a Mason squad that entered with the CAA's highest-ranked offense. Hofstra held the Patriots to just 4-of-23 shooting the field while Moore and Lester combined for 15 points as the Pride took a 20-19 lead into halftime.

Mason came into the night with a 71.3 team scoring average, making them the only team in the league to crack the 70-point plateau. But the Pride held Mason in check, holding Pearson scoreless in the first half and forcing the Patriots to go 0-for-6 from three-point range.

Hofstra forced Mason to miss 17 of their first 20 field goal attempts. The 19 points marked the lowest single-half output for a Hofstra opponent this season and the fewest points since the Pride held Northeastern to 24 opening-half points on Jan. 11. It was the lowest combined scoring half for any Hofstra game this season.

Hofstra surged to a 9-0 run through the first five minutes, matching the best start to a home game since the Pride also scored the game's first nine points against Northeastern. Cassara's team also raced to a 16-3 lead at Old Dominion on Jan. 14.

Hofstra will hit the road for third time in four games when the team faces Northeastern on Saturday at noon from Matthews Arena.

Print Friendly Version

Players Mentioned

#3 Stevie Mejia: G; 5' 9"; Junior

#1 Nathaniel Lester: F; 6' 5"; Senior

#5 David Imes: F; 6' 7"; Junior

#23 Mike Moore: G; 6' 5"; Senior

Players Mentioned

#3 Stevie Mejia
: 5' 9"; Junior
: G

#1 Nathaniel Lester
: 6' 5"; Senior
: F

#5 David Imes
: 6' 7"; Junior
: F

#23 Mike Moore
: 6' 5"; Senior
: G

Hofstra University Athletics

Players Mentioned

Players Mentioned