FAIRFAX, Va. ? The Tigers couldn't overcome the emotion of senior night at George Mason as the Mason Nation rallied for a first half lead and went on to beat Towson 71-59 Saturday night in the Patriot Center to end the 2008-09 regular season.
The victory enabled the Mason Nation (20-9, 13-5) to finish the season a perfect 14-0 in the Patriot Center, marking the first time for an unbeaten home record in the facility. It was also George Mason's 14th straight win over the Tigers, who dropped to 10-21 and 5-13 with the loss.
Towson stayed with the Patriots for most of the first half. Three-point baskets by Josh Thornton (14-13) and Junior Hairston (21-20) gave the Tigers leads. Hairston followed his trey with an encore that helped Towson to its largest lead, 25-20, at the 6:32 mark.
But less than a minute later the Tigers went cold and didn't score for almost five minutes. The Patriots, meanwhile, took off on a 10-0 run to grab a 33-23 lead. Thornton finally snapped the scoreless string with 33 seconds left in the period with a running jumper in the lane but the Patriots' assumed a 35-29 lead at the break on Louis Birdsong's put back that beat the buzzer.
George Mason slowly padded its lead in the second half, keeping the Tigers at a double-digit distance for most of the period. The Patriots led by 14 points, twice.
Hairston led all scorers with 19 points. He also grabbed 12 rebounds for his 7th double-double of the year and the 17th of his career. Thornton was the only other Towson player in double figures with 10 points.
Darryl Monroe and Dre Smith paced the Patriots with 13 points each.
The Tigers finished the season in a tie for 10th with William & Mary but the tie breaker for tournament seeding goes to the Tribe because of its regular season win over Northeastern. Towson will be seeded 11th for next week's championship tourney and will play at 8:30 p.m. on Friday against sixth-seeded Drexel.
George Mason wrapped up the second seed for the tournament and draws a first-round bye.
