The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss
(2-1)
George Mason
(0-3)
Mississippi Holds Off George Mason, 56-49
11/30/2002 | Men's Basketball
Nov 30, 2002
Box Score in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
FAIRFAX, Va. (AP) - Aaron Harper had 12 points, Derrick Allen added 11 and David Sanders chipped in 10 as Mississippi defeated George Mason 56-49 Saturday night.
The Rebels (2-1) never trailed, and the game was tied just once at 2-2. Mississippi built leads of 15 points in the first half and 16 points in the second half, but each time George Mason (0-3) came back.
Mississippi, which has played in five of the past six NCAA tournaments, survived a late George Mason charge despite shoddy free-throw shooting. The Rebels shot just 7-for-16 from the line. The Patriots didn't shoot much better, 11-for-23 from the line.
George Mason shot just 2-for-11 from 3-point range. in the first half, the Patriots went on a 9-0 run to cut the lead to 27-21 with 2:28 to play. Emmanuel Wade's layup gave Mississippi a 29-21 lead at the break.
After Jon Larranaga scored on a layup 26 seconds into the second half, the Patriots trailed 29-23. A 13-4 run enabled Mississippi to take their biggest lead, 49-33. The Patriots outscored Ole Miss 14-3 to make it 52-47 with 41.3 seconds left.
But Allen hit the second of two free throws, Trey Pearson the first of two and Pearson a pair to secure the win. George Mason, which was playing its first home game of the season, was led by Larranaga with 16 points. Jesse Young had 14 points and 13 rebounds.
