After leading for much of the second half on Thursday night, the George Mason Patriots lost their first regular season conference game in over a year, falling 60-53 to the Drexel Dragons. A couple freshman announced their presence to the CAA during the game, but it was the Dragons' Damion Lee who caught absolute fire in the final five minutes to seal the win. The freshman from Baltimore hit a triple with four and half minutes to give Drexel the lead. He would then hit back-to-back threes on subsequent possessions just a minute later to work the DAC crowd into a frenzy and give Drexel a five-point lead. He finished with a game-high 21 points.
Sparking an impressive first half defensive effort for Mason was freshman Erik Copes. The Philly native had seven blocks in the first twenty minutes but it would end there - three shy of the GMU single-game record. Mike Morrison led the Patriots with ten points but he was the only man in double figures for Paul Hewitt's squad. Ryan Pearson had a season-low 7 points, and GMU's 18 game conference win streak was snapped. They will look to start a new one this weekend when they travel to James Madison on Saturday night.
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