By Ed Morrone
RICHMOND, Va.-Yet again, the George Mason Patriots proved to be a thorn in Hofstra basketball’s side.
Last season, the Pride knocked off Mason twice in the final 11 days only to see Jim Larranaga’s bunch snatch an at-large berth from the Pride on Selection Sunday. This time around, things were much more cut-and-dry.
Hofstra went into Saturday’s game heavily favored against a Mason team that was a shell of its former self for most of the year, struggling to stay above the .500 mark for much of the season. But as Mason showed us all last March, the traditional rules of favorites and underdogs don’t usually apply to them, and the Patriots shockingly almost made it back to the NCAA Tournament again before being upended by VCU in Monday night’s title game.
That’s right, this year’s George Mason almost turned out to be, well, George Mason.That’s what makes Larranaga and his team so special: regardless of the David vs. Goliath odds, the Patriots always feel like they have a chance. In Saturday’s 64-61 win over Hofstra, the seemingly overmatched Patriots overwhelmed the superiorly talented Pride by executing fundamentals such as rebounding (Mason out-rebounded Hofstra 38-31) and hustling to every loose ball with that never-say-die mentality.
“When your team rebounds like that, it’s the final touch on good defense,” Larranaga said. “Just a great job by the whole team.”
“Everybody’s confidence going into this tournament was so great,” guard Folarin Campbell added.
And after last year, there was no reason for Mason not to be confident, even if they were dealing with the losses of the three players who did so much to help get them to the Final Four. Facing a team that they had lost to four straight times (including a 68-60 home loss to the Pride on Feb. 10), the Patriots came out with lightning in a bottle, burying Hofstra with deadeye shooting (52 percent in the first half) and the aforementioned dominance on the glass. When the Pride made a run in the second half, Mason had some room for error (just barely, though) and was able to prevail in the end.
“One of the things about a team is you mature at the team’s rate, and mentally it’s hard to push guys too hard and too soon,” Larranaga said of his teams struggles earlier this season. “When you lose, there’s always questions and doubts, but we never really let it get us down or make us not enjoy playing basketball together. Sometimes teams come apart through adversity, but I think adversity brought this team closer together.”
Unfortunately for Mason, magic ran out on Monday night when VCU guard Eric Maynor single-handedly orchestrated a last-minute comeback in the Rams’ 65-59 win. Still though, Mason made the kind of strides that people have grown accustomed to after last March’s run and despite ultimately falling short, they put themselves in a position to be successful next year and in years to come with Larranaga’s winning formula.
The Patriots finally solved their Hofstra problem and with the maturity gained through this year’s adversity, it wouldn’t be shocking to see Mason as a thorn in the rest of the CAA’s side.