Men’s Basketball downs Harvard to open season

Johnny Williams goes in for a dunk in the first half of Wednesday afternoon's 66-53 victory over the Harvard Crimson to open the season. (Ezekiel Ibrahim-Watkins)

The George Mason Men’s squad defeated the Harvard Crimson 66-53 Saturday afternoon in the Patriot Center to tip off the 2010-11 regular season.

The Patriots got off to a slow start, and did not register a bucket until junior Mike Morrison cashed in on a layup nearly three minutes into the game. They missed several short-range shots in the first half, including uncontested layups.

“Everybody was just going real fast, a lot faster than what they are used to,” senior guard Cam Long said. “We were very anxious and rushing things that we really should have slowed down.”

Long was named to the Preseason All-CAA First Team, and Head Coach Jim Larranaga expects him to be the team leader this year. He had a balanced overall effort, contributing eight points, 10 rebounds and six assists.

Just like the rest of the team, however, Long had a slow start. He only scored two points in the first half, going 1-5 from the field.

“Once we slowed it down, calmed down and got the jitters out, we picked it back up,” Long said.

Despite the early struggles, the Patriots entered the locker room at half time with a 32-28 lead. The defensive intensity made up for the offensive setbacks.

“I thought our defense was very good, and we sustained the effort for 40 minutes,” Larranaga said. “It was really good to start the second half, and we were able to get a double-digit lead.”

Once Larranaga’s crew opened up a double-digit lead, they never looked back. The lead reached the 20-point mark for the first time with just under six minutes left in the game, primarily by turning defense into offense on fast-break opportunities. The Patriots outscored the Crimson 16-2 in that category.

“Guys were just getting steals and dishing the ball, and getting easy shots for everybody,” sophomore wing player Luke Hancock said. “We were really trying to push it and pick up the intensity and pressure.”

Hancock led the Mason scoring attack with 14 points, followed by juniors Ryan Pearson with 13 and Andre Cornelius with 11.

“When we started that run, we looked good,” Hancock said. “We were getting steals, pressuring them, and we played well against a good team.”

Harvard’s Keith Wright led all a scores with 22 and had a game-high 16 rebounds.

Larranaga went to the bench early and often, giving at least five minutes of action to 11 different players. Morrison and Pearson got in foul trouble early, allowing freshman Jonathan Arledge to play valuable minutes throughout the game.

“I was pleased we were able to go to our bench and get a very good effort from Jonathan Arledge, Paris Bennet, Vertrail Vaughns, Isaiah Tate and Bryon Allen,” Larranaga said. “If this group can stay healthy and play well together, I think we’ve got a good chance.”

The squad next competes Nov. 18 against Charlotte in the ESPN Charleston Classic in Charleston, S.C. They will play three games during the tournament. The Patriots expect to be the underdogs in each contest, Larranaga said.

“We were very anxious, we did some things a little out of character from what we’ve been practicing,” Larranaga said. “We’re going to need to really focus getting ready for this tournament, being comfortable no matter what offense we’re in.”