Thomas Wills Mason to 63-51 Home Win over VCU
by Jay Pearlman
FAIRFAX, Va. – So some of you thought the big game of the week was a Sunday evening football game in Arizona, that the big sports story of the week was a certain pitcher named Johan being traded to the New York Mets (ok, traded pending a contract extension), and that down this way – really, up and down the east coast – all the big college basketball games involved ACC schools.
Well, with all due respect to Bill Belichick, Omar Minaya and Coach K, for one glorious night all of those took a back seat to a monster game in the Colonial Athletic Association, Virginia Commonwealth (now 8-2, 15-5) against George Mason (7-3, 15-6) in Fairfax. It was the first meeting of the CAA’s two best teams since VCU’s wonderful comeback win in the conference tournament final last March.
Everybody who is anybody was there: Tom Yeager, Ron Bertovich and Rob Washburn from the conference office, and Tom Brennan and Doug Gottlieb for ESPN2 (and a national television audience). 7,917 screaming Patriot fans, of whom 2,061 were students, a new GMU record, gathered. There were three good officials (Eades, Kersey and Hull), press row bursting at the seams, and America’s most enthusiastic pep band. At every break that band played loudly and exuberantly, and the entire gymnasium sang along with most of the tunes.
The game started at a feverish intensity, and stayed that way for the full forty minutes. And like the RAC at Rutgers, that old gym in the Patriot Center holds the sound, in fact seems to echo the crowd even louder.
It looks to this reporter like VCU is the better team. The late Al McGuire talked about the point guard position in college basketball as the most important (by far), and of these two teams, only VCU has a true point guard in Eric Maynor. The junior can now score from deep as well as penetrate, slash and dish, evidenced by his three treys in the first half last night leading the Rams to the break tied at 25. And in addition to all he can do, Maynor allows everyone else on the roster to play their true position: Jamal Shuler a dynamic second guard, Wil Fameni a power forward, freshman Joey Rodriguez a talented combo guard, senior Michael Anderson a powerful rebounding forward. VCU also has a super freshman from Port St. Lucie in Larry Sanders, a long, athletic and graceful 6-9 forward with soft hands. He was saddled with fouls last night against GMU.
After a John Vaughan trey 3:54 into a second half gave Mason a 33-31 lead, VCU ran off eight straight, five by Shuler, to lead 39-33 at the 8:30 mark. From that point forward, GMU went primarily to four guards around Thomas, and outscored the Rams 30-12 in the final eleven and a half minutes of the game. During those 11 1/2 minutes, Will Thomas (21 points in the game, 8 of 9, 15 rebounds) had 10 points, 9 rebounds, a block and an assist.
All game VCU played Thomas straight up rather than double-teaming (often using Fameni on Thomas). When Fameni took away the middle of the court and Thomas’ right shoulder for much of the game (left-handed Thomas on his familiar right block), time and time again Thomas faked in that direction, drop stepped to the baseline, and finished with a short bank, power layup or dunk. And those 15 rebounds were 15 out of just 29 for the team, holding GMU’s deficit on the boards to just 5.
As good as Thomas was in the game and down the stretch, this game was won by GMU on defense, mostly its individual man-to-man defense at the guard positions. Folarin Campbell made Shuler take 15 shots to make 6. Better still, sharpshooter Vaughan held Maynor to 12 points, just 3 in the second half.
After the game, VCU coach Anthony Grant acknowledged that GMU’s individual and team defense took VCU out of its offense. “They loaded up on Eric in the second half,” said Grant.
Teammate Campbell was more effusive about Vaughan’s play: “Vaughan wants to guard the other team’s best player; he takes so much pride in his defense.” Having expressed concern about this year’s team’s defense just a week ago, George Mason coach Jim Larranaga was understated, simply offering, “You saw what they did out there.”
These teams – surely the conference’s best two, especially on defense – won’t play again during the unbalanced CAA regular season, but most certainly will meet again in the conference tourney in Richmond. That day, as last night, VCU will be the more complete team, in large measure due to silky smooth point guard Maynor. But that day, as last night, these two teams will guard the heck out of one another for 40 minutes, Thomas will impose his strong will on the boards and in the paint, and it will take every ounce of their energy and intensity for the Rams to overcome this hard-playing, point guard-less, defending Patriot team.
And assuming they do meet in March, last night’s monster win in this big-time setting should go far in overcoming GMU’s non-conference loss to East Carolina, and propel a second CAA team into the big dance for the third straight year. But more to the point, I can’t wait to sit courtside in Richmond and watch the rematch.
CAA News and Notes
- With last night’s win, Mason pulled to within a game of VCU in the conference standings, and will own the tie-breaker against VCU for the rest of the year.
- With wins tonight, Wilmington, William and Mary and Delaware could all join Mason one game behind.
- It’s up to Newark, Delaware for this reporter today, to call the rematch between the Blue Hens and Northeastern.
- Not far up the road (well, down the road), Tom Pecora’s resurgent Hofstra group visits Pat Kennedy’s Towson team, which is now 4-1 at home in conference play.
- But the big game in the league tonight is Wilmington-Old Dominion, as Benny Moss takes the Seahawks and their winning streak to Norfolk for the first of three straight road games. UNCW will have to defend better than they did last week at home to defeat Blaine Taylor’s Monarchs in their own gym.
- Kudos to the conference for scheduling some great games on Tuesday and Thursday nights this year, including Mason’s double overtime win at Hofstra on a Thursday two weeks ago and last night’s thriller.
- With Maynor just a junior, CAA fans have another year and a half to watch his magical play, and with Sanders’ expected improvement and more time for Lance Kearse, next year’s Ram team should be every bit as good as this one.
- The latest political poll: Among America’s women, Anthony Grant may have just nosed past Gary Waters as the best-looking, best-dressed coach in the country.
