Tonight's game against the Georgia State Panthers looked like it could be a trap game for the George Mason Patriots. With the CAA Tournament starting next week and GMU already having wrapped up the regular season title on Thursday, it would have been easy for them to overlook the lowly Panthers.
But they didn't. The Patriots took a trip down to Atlanta today and defeated George State 65-58. George Mason led throughout the game, and although it was closer than the Patriots would have liked, they always looked like the better team.
Shooting guard Cam Long led all scorers with 19 points, while Vertrail Vaughns chipped in 12 points in 14 minutes off the bench. And while the home team out-rebounded the Patriots 32-27 and had a higher shooting percentage, the CAA champions seven of their 11 three-point attempts to seal the victory.
The win was George Mason's 16th this year in the Colonial Athletic Association, tying a conference record and setting a school record. After finishing just outside the top 25 last week, the Patriots made a strong case to make the leap tomorrow.