Patriots' Rally Falls Short

Mason Struggles While Vaughan Sits: Virginia Commonwealth 76, George Mason 71

RICHMOND, Jan. 24 -- Five minutes into the second half of George Mason's 76-71 loss to Virginia Commonwealth on Saturday, the Patriots confronted a 15-point deficit, mounting foul trouble, an Alltel Pavilion capacity crowd roaring its approval and their season-long perch atop the Colonial Athletic Association in jeopardy.

Sitting near the end of the George Mason bench, wearing black warm-ups and propping up his chin with his left hand, senior guard John Vaughan watched and wondered. The team's most important player and top defender, he was sidelined for this showdown after suffering a concussion at Northeastern on Wednesday.

If Vaughan had been available, would the Patriots have fallen into this predicament? Probably not. But in his absence, the Patriots turned a imminent rout into a one-point game with 4 minutes 21 seconds remaining, and if not for Rams star Eric Maynor's brilliance, might have pulled off a remarkable comeback victory.

"No matter who is out, no matter who is in, we are going to play hard," senior forward Darryl Monroe said. "We could have let down, but we fought back and got back into the game."

Sophomore Cam Long instigated the rally, scoring 11 straight points in a four-minute stretch and finishing with a career-high 24. Back-court mate Dre Smith (16 points) made four three-pointers and the Patriots (14-5, 7-2) gathered 18 offensive rebounds for a 40-27 overall advantage.

But Maynor, who was held scoreless for the first 13 minutes, scored eight points down the stretch and tallied 28 points, 6 assists and 3 steals for the Rams (15-5, 8-1), who have won seven straight.

The Patriots lost twice this week -- both on the road, both decided late and both against teams in first-place contention -- but were heartened by the performance executed without Vaughan, who will also sit out Tuesday against Delaware.

"We battled our way back and put ourselves in a position with three minutes to go to make it real interesting," Patriots Coach Jim Larranaga said. "We started to peck away at it. We started to calm down."

Vaughan's absence was glaring at times -- poor inbound passes and defensive letdowns -- as the Patriots fell behind by seven points early. But with Ryan Pearson scoring 10 first-half points and Maynor laboring to make an impact, George Mason embarked on an 18-4 run for a 21-14 lead.

Maynor, the CAA's leading scorer, awakened with a fury, scoring 12 points in the last seven minutes of the half as the Rams grabbed a 39-32 lead, the most points George Mason has yielded in any half this season. After VCU expanded the margin to 55-40 with 15 minutes left, the Patriots mounted their comeback.

Long's three-pointer and two free throws cut the deficit to five, and Smith's layup and Monroe's lane jumper made it 65-64 with 4:21 to go. Maynor ensured VCU's lead remained intact, though, using a screen to swish his third three-pointer.

"We told our team just before [Maynor] hit the three that this is normally when he tries to take over and we cannot give him a shot," Larranaga said. "And of course he makes the three."

After the Rams' Bradford Burgess made a desperation three-pointer just before the shot clock expired, Maynor sliced into the lane for a basket and drew a foul. The three-point play upped the lead to 74-66 with 1:13 to go.

"Every possession, we just kept inching closer," Long said. "But down the stretch, it just came to the point where we couldn't get over the hump. We fought our way back in; we just couldn't beat it."

· HOLY CROSS 71, AMERICAN 62: Colin Cunningham had 20 points, 7 assists and 4 steals as R.J. Evans added 16 points to help the Crusaders (9-11, 4-1 Patriot League) to a victory over the visiting Eagles (11-7, 3-1).

· MORGAN STATE 78, HOWARD 56: Reggie Holmes scored 22 points and the Bears (10-9, 5-1 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference) went on a 16-0 run early in the second half to put away the visiting Bison (3-15, 1-4).

News services contributed to this report.