Patriots Lose 5th Straight on Road

Delaware 66, George Mason 58

NEWARK, Del., Feb. 12 -- George Mason's road woes continue to follow a familiar script: The Patriots fall behind early, rally to take the lead, then have a few lapses down the stretch that ultimately cost them the game.

Undone by a lackluster first half and poor execution in the final minute, George Mason suffered its worst loss of the season, a 66-58 defeat to Delaware at Bob Carpenter Center on Thursday night. The Patriots (16-8, 9-5) are now tied with Drexel (13-10, 9-5) for third place in the Colonial Athletic Association.

George Mason lost its fifth consecutive road game despite Darryl Monroe's career night. Monroe scored a personal-best 27 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for his sixth double-double of the season.

"We're just losing focus in a couple stretches," Monroe said. "They convert a couple of our mistakes, and we just run out of time."

There are plenty of reasons why the Patriots suffered this defeat. They missed free throws, making only 10 of 23 attempts. Their defense, particularly on the perimeter, was poor. Delaware (11-15, 5-9) made 11 three-pointers, the most by a Mason opponent since Liberty sank 11 on Dec. 1. And the Patriots didn't make a three-point basket for the first time this season, going 0 for 9 from behind the arc.

After falling behind 45-28 early in the second half -- its biggest deficit of the season -- George Mason went on an 18-2 run to pull within one with eight minutes remaining. The Patriots used their defense to get back into the game. Delaware, which had just one turnover in the first 20 minutes, turned the ball over five times during Mason's run.

"We did a very good job of fighting our way back into the game," Coach Jim Larranaga said. "We didn't do it on one or two possessions. It wasn't anything spectacular. It was really workmanlike and I was very pleased with that. But you want to finish strong, and unfortunately on the road we've had a little harder time doing that."

The Patriots took a 54-52 lead, their first since early in the game, on Monroe's layup with 4 minutes 13 seconds remaining. Then Delaware went back in front for good on Marc Egerson's three-point basket. The Georgetown transfer scored 20 points and grabbed 14 rebounds to lead the Blue Hens, who closed the game on a 7-2 surge. George Mason hasn't won a road game since beating William & Mary on Jan. 14.

George Mason looked to take advantage of Delaware's lack of strength underneath the basket by repeatedly throwing the ball inside to Monroe, who scored 13 of his points in the first half, or by driving to the basket and drawing fouls. The problem for the Patriots was that they weren't making free throws and that for every two-point basket they made, Delaware countered with a three-pointer.

Perimeter defense has been a weakness for George Mason during its road-losing skid, and, for at least the first half, the Patriots did a poor job of containing Delaware's shooters. The Blue Hens are the second most prolific three-point shooting team in the CAA, and they showed why on this night. Led by Egerson, Delaware sank nine three-pointers in the first half. Egerson finished 3 of 6 from three-point range.