Radford, Va. - The Radford Highlanders were able to take advantage of a bad Mason shooting night and a size advantage inside as they used a 25-7 run in the second half to pull away from the George Mason men's basketball team, beating the Patriots 80-53 at Dedmon Center in Radford, Va. The 27-point margin of defeat was the worst for Mason since a 34-point loss to #10 North Carolina on December 7, 2003.
Mason (6-6) shot just 27 percent in the game including 20 percent in the second half. Radford had a 47-29 advantage in rebounding and blocked eight Mason shots. Art Parakhouski had 34 points, 12 rebounds and five blocks, Lazar Trifunovic had 15 points and 17 rebounds and Joey Lynch-Flohr had 15 points as Radford outscored Mason 40-22 in the paint and 17-8 off turnovers.
Luke Hancock led Mason with 10 points. Ryan Pearson and Andre Cornelius each had nine points and three rebounds and Isaiah Tate had seven points. Mason was 16 of 19 from the free throw line but Radford was 22 of 28 from the stripe. The Highlanders (6-5) made 52.7 percent of their shots in the game despite going 0 of 9 from 3-point range.
The Patriots held just one lead in the game at 16-15 midway through the first half. They trailed 34-29 at the break and pulled to within three at 38-35 with 16:33 to play. That's when Radford started its big run to put the Patriots away.
Wednesday's game at Radford began a stretch of five games in 11 days. The next contest comes on Saturday, Jan. 2 against Old Dominion. Mason will host the Monarchs at Noon at Patriot Center in a game televised on Comcast SportsNet and broadcast on WTNT 570 AM. Old Dominion was picked in the preseason to finish first in the CAA while Mason was picked fourth. ODU is 9-4 on the year and beat Duquesne on Wednesday night.