University of Northern Iowa
George Mason
George Mason Tallies 77-71 Victory Over UNI in BracketBusters Showdown
2/19/2011 7:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa - George Mason rallied from a 10-point second-half deficit to score a 77-71 victory over the University of Northern Iowa Panthers in a 2011 Sears BracketBusters matchup in the McLeod Center.
The win also extended the nation's longest active winning streak to 13 in a row for the Patriots.
The Patriots (23-5 overall) trailed 42-32 a little over a minute into the second half and came back for the six-point road win. GMU was led by Andre Cornelius's 24 points and Ryan Pearson's 21 points. Pearson drained 13-of-13 free throws in the contest, including six in the final minute of the game. Pearson also tallied a game-high 15 rebounds.
UNI (19-10 overall) received a season-high tying 26 points from senior point guard Kwadzo Ahelegbe. Sophomore forward Jake Koch added 14 points and Johnny Moran tossed in 10 points for the Panthers. Koch grabbed a team-high nine rebounds and dished out a team-high five assists.
The Panthers built an early 13-10 lead on the strength of a trio of 3-pointers from Koch, Moran and Ahelegbe. However, GMU went on a 11-0 run to take a 21-13 lead with 11:40 left in the half. The Panthers responded with a 10-2 spurt of its own that was capped by senior guard Kerwin Dunham's bucket with 8:36 remaining in the first half.
UNI drained eight 3-pointers in the first 20 minutes with Anthony James going a perfect 3-for-3 from distance. The Panthers went into the intermission with a 36-32 lead holding GMU scoreless over the final 2:36 of the first half.
UNI extended the lead to 10 following back-to-back 3-pointers from Koch and Ahelegbe with 18:44 left in the game.
GMU got a 3-pointer from Luke Hancock and a pair of free throws from Pearson to trim the margin to five with 17:12 to go. UNI would never be able to pull ahead by more than six the rest of the way as GMU hung around.
Mason tallied its first lead of the second half when Cornelius hit the first of two free throws with 3:00 left in the game to give GMU a 62-61 advantage. Hancock hit a shot with 1:55 left to up the lead to three, 64-61. After Ahelegbe hit a pair of free throws, GMU's Cam Long hit his only 3-pointer of the game out of the right corner to push the margin to four at 67-63 with 1:20 remaining.
Pearson then sunk two free throws with 55.9 ticks left to give GMU a six-point margin, 69-63. But the Panthers failed to yield and put together a 6-2 run capped by a Moran steal and layup with 26.0 seconds left.
Cornelius hit two more free throws with 24.9 seconds left to move the lead back to four before Ahelegbe answered with a pair at the charity stripe with 20.7 seconds left.
UNI then forced a turnover from Hancock on the in-bounds pass and the Panthers would have a chance to tie with 11.8 seconds left. However, the Panthers turned the ball over on the in-bounds pass and Pearson made four free throws in the final 10.9 seconds to earn the win for the Patriots.
UNI will play its final regular season home game Tuesday against Indiana State with a tip set for 7 p.m. in the McLeod Center. UNI will honor three seniors prior to the game in Kwadzo Ahelegbe.
NOTES: UNI had won 23 straight home games when scoring more than 60 points ... UNI had won 12 straight non-conference home games before the 77-71 loss to George Mason ... UNI is now 25-5 in non-conference home games in the McLeod Center ... UNI is 11-1 in games in which it makes eight or more 3-pointers ... UNI is 74-12 over the past four seasons when scoring 60 or more points ... UNI came into the game ranked No. 2 in the nation in fewest turnovers per game (9.7) and turned the ball over five times against the Patriots ... Ahelegbe drained a career-high four 3-pointers in the contest ... Ahelegbe moved up to No. 11 on the Panthers' all-time scoring list with 1,264 points ... UNI has made 209 3-pointers this season to rank as the 8th-best total in school history ... GMU's Pearson tied a McLeod Center record for free throws made by an opponent with 13 - Bradley's Andrew Warren set the mark earlier this season.
