George Mason nearly pulled off an incredible comeback in the semifinals of the Colonial Athletic Association tournament semifinals but huge early deficit was simply too much to overcome on Sunday night. The VCU Rams hit their free-throws down the stretch to hang on for a 74-64 win over the Patriots. GMU trailed by as many as 28 points in the first half, but slowly chipped away at the VCU lead to cut it to six with under four minutes to play to make it interesting.
Conference Player of the Year Ryan Pearson had his most quiet game of the season, adding only six points on just three attempts from the field. His senior partner in the front court Mike Morrison picked up some of the slack, having perhaps his best game of the year. He finished with 20 points and 11 rebounds but it was not enough
Bradford Burgess led VCU with 20 points, hitting five three pointers and pacing the early run that put them out in front by more than 20 points. The Rams move on to the CAA title game, where they will face a Drexel team that is the No. 1 seed and playing great basketball this week in Richmond.
For more on the CAA men's basketball tournament 2012, be sure to check out this SB Nation DC StoryStream. Meanwhile, SB Nation's college basketball hub will have all the news and nuggets you need in preparation for March and the madness it brings.