George Mason came into the Palumbo Center on Saturday afternoon determined to end their nine-game losing streak. The Patriots (8-15, 1-8), a first-year member of the Atlantic 10, came out successful in their first conference meeting with Duquesne (10-12, 2-7).
Duquesne struggled early to get their offense going, not scoring until about three minutes into the half, when Derrick Colter hit a 3-pointer. George Mason’s defense did a great job, especially early on, of doubling Soko in the paint and keeping tabs on where Micah Mason was on the floor. Both players totaled a fairly modest six first half points each. Soko was constricted by the frequent double teams and had to force a few shots early on, prompting some frustration from Ferry on some plays for no foul call.
“You just have to see how the game is being called from game to game, because there’s really no consistency,” Soko said.
“It’s not their fault that we lost,” Ferry said, referring to the officials, “but I definitely think it frustrated Ovie early.”
Ridenour stepped into the game shortly after Colter’s three, providing a spark of offense with a nice dribble drive penetration move. This was followed by a circus pass underneath from Soko to Watkins for a bucket.
But not a whole lot was working for Duquesne offensively, until later on in the half. Colter even tried his alleyoop off the backboard to Soko – the same play that earned both players a Sportscenter Top 10 moment – back in early January, but even that was off the mark.
Duquesne started to build momentum midway through the half, when Mason hit his first 3-pointer, and Soko followed it up with an and one play to bring Duquesne within one (15-16). Soko would tie the game up with 5:48 to go in the half after getting fouled and hitting two from the charity strike. But the Patriots came storming back, going on an ensuing 7-0 run that was highlighted by a dunk from Sherrod Wright. Marko Gujanicic from George Mason added five in the final six minutes of the half, but Colter and Mason came storming back with two 3-pointers of their own with under a minute to play to bring the Dukes within one at halftime.
Wright finished with a game high 23 points, while Bryon Allen scored 17 for George Mason. Soko led all Duquesne scorers with 21 points, while Mason added 16 on 5 of 8 from the floor and 4 of 5 from three point range.
Duquesne got their first lead of the game when Dominique McKoy hit a long two shortly into the second half. McKoy, who had three first half fouls, wound up fouling out by the end with two points. The brief lead was short-lived and would be Duquesne’s only lead of the game.
Rebounding was a key component in George Mason’s campaign, as the Patriots outrebounded the Dukes by a 36-30 margin. Soko, after the game, cited his team’s not rebounding with all five players as a reason for the sub-par performance on the glass. “We give up so much size. We have to rebound as five, there’s not many teams in the league that we’re just bigger than,” he said.
The second half didn’t get away from Duquesne until under four minutes to play, when the Patriots went up by 10. The game didn’t get much closer beyond that point, with Wright and guard Bryon Allen hitting some key shots to help their team stay on top.
“When you look at not defending at a high level and not rebounding, that’s what’s happening,” said Ferry, whose team let the opposition shoot at 61.9 percent in the second half.
“You can’t put your head down, you can’t mope, you can’t sulk. You have to stay the same after a win and after a loss,” Ferry added.
Photo Credit: Duquesne Athletics
