Allen's Layup Lifts Mason Past GSU, 61-59
RICHMOND, Va. - Sophomore guard Bryon Allen connected
on a reverse layup with 3.4 seconds left to push third-seeded George Mason past
sixth-seeded Georgia State, 61-59, in front of a sellout crowd of 11,200
Saturday evening in the quarterfinals of the 2012 Virginia 529 College Savings
Plan CAA Men's Basketball Championship
George Mason (24-8) advances to the semifinal round for the sixth time in the
past seven years and 15th time overall. The Patriots will meet second-seeded
VCU Sunday at 4:30 p.m. The teams, which split a pair of regular season
meetings this year, will meet in the tournament for the fourth consecutive
year.
After leading by five at halftime, Georgia State (21-11) founds itself down,
59-55 with just 2:45 remaining in the game after George Mason senior guard
Andre Cornelius hit a three-pointer as the shot clock expired. The Panthers
quickly erased their four-point deficit though as sophomore guard Devonta White
hit a pair of free throws with just over a minute to go and senior guard James
Fields swiped a steal and converted the fastbreak layup to tie the game at 59
with 38 seconds remaining.
With just three seconds separating the game clock and shot clock, Allen
patiently waited and attacked the rim with less than eight seconds on the
clock. The sophomore drove from right to left and went underneath the basket
before converting the challenged reverse layup to put the Patriots ahead for good.
After a pair of Georgia State timeouts, Panther senior Josh Micheaux received
the inbounds pass, drove through a pair of George Mason defenders and heaved a
35-footer that missed the rim as the clock expired.
Senior forward Mike Morrison led the Patriots with 12 points and seven rebounds
while sophomore guard Sherrod Wright came off the bench to score 10 in the victory.
Georgia State was led by Fields' 15 points and six rebounds. Sophomore guard
Rashaad Richardson joined Fields in double figures with 10 points on 3-for-5
shooting.
George Mason led early, 9-7, after an Erik Copes layup at the 14:03 mark of the
opening half. Georgia State controlled play over the next five minutes though
and used a 15-2 run to grab a 22-11 lead midway through the period. Five
different Panthers scored during the spurt, led by five points from Richardson.
Trailing 26-17 with just over five minutes remaining in the first stanza, Mason
scored six straight points to pull to within three and the Patriots would go
into the intermission down five, 30-25.
George Mason slowly chipped away at the Panther lead early in the second half
and a Vertrail Vaughns layup at the 9:04 mark put the Patriots up for the first
time since it was 9-7 in the first half.
Mason extended its lead to 52-46 after a Wright dunk capped a 12-3 Patriot run.
Georgia State would cut the George Mason lead to 56-55 with 3:19 remaining
before Cornelius' three-pointer jump started the thrilling finish.
The Patriots held a 42-24 advantage in points in the paint and a 39-33
rebounding edge. The Panthers attempted 30 free throws, but were only able to
connect on 17 to shoot 56.7 percent from the charity stripe. George Mason was
forced into 14 turnovers, but the Patriots dished out 13 assists including a
game-high five from CAA Player of the Year Ryan Pearson. The Patriot senior had
just four points on 2-for-7 shooting and fouled out late in the second half.
