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George Mason trying for another March Madness berth


MasonJet

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http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/recap?gameId=270632244

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) -- Dre Smith scored 19 points and surging George Mason took a 22-point lead early in the second half and made it stand up Sunday to upset Old Dominion 79-63 and advance to the Colonial Athletic Association championship game.

The Patriots (18-14), lacking the resume they had in earning the at-large NCAA tournament berth last season that made their amazing run to the Final Four possible, beat third-seeded Hoftra in the quarterfinals before taking out the No. 2 Monarchs.

The Patriots will play regular-season champion Virginia Commonwealth in the championship on Monday night, with the winner earning an NCAA tournament berth.

Old Dominion (24-8), which had swept the season series from the Patriots, missed 30 of its first 40 shots and joins Drexel in hoping the league's enhanced reputation earns it at-large consideration. Drexel lost to the Rams in the other semifinal, 63-56.

Folarin Campbell added 18 points for the Patriots, including seven in a row late in the game after the Monarchs made 9 of 12 shots to threaten to make a game of it.

Drew Williamson led Old Dominion with 16 points and Valdas Vasylius had 13.

George Mason led 35-20 at halftime and opened the second half with an 8-1 run as Old Dominion missed its first five shots, leaving it 8-for-34 from the field overall.

Not until the Monarchs stopped shooting 3-pointers -- they had missed 12 of 13 -- and started driving to the basket did they begin to mount a rally. Making 9 of 12 at one point, they closed to within 61-49 with 4:38 to play, but could get no closer.

George Mason shot 58 percent while Old Dominion finished at 35 percent.

The Patriots came out red hot, making 9 of their first 11 shots and taking a 21-8 lead. They hardly cooled off, either, finishing the half 15-for-26 and leading 35-20.

Smith led the Patriots' early barrage, scoring 14 points before halftime.

I'm a student at Mason now and unfortunately I just started this year and wasn't here when they made their incredible run last year. They've had a somewhat disappointing season this year but it would be great if they could beat VCU and make the tourney again.

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That's pretty cool that he got a full scholarship. I like it here myself, DC is only a half-hour drive away. Most of the students are Virginians but there's a fair amount of people from other areas such as myself. It can get dull at times on the weekend but there's usually something to do and I would let him know that the cops can be pretty strict here, especially compared to some other schools in Virginia. But still, going to basketball games is a lot of fun and they get some pretty good musical acts here as well, Bob Dylan and Tenacious D had shows here last semester.

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