George Mason's 86-53 rout of Old Dominion was the Patriots' fourth straight CAA victory, the fourth consecutive game with a different leading scorer, and seventh game with . One major reason for GMU's offensive efficiency has been the shift of Folarin Campbell to point guard-- the senior played both forward positions and a little shooting guard before being given the keys to the offense.
Coach Jim Larranaga said it took a while for Campbell to adjust to his new role-- at first the senior passed up most of his scoring opportunities to involve his teammates; since settling in Campbell's averaged 14 points and 4 assists the past seven games (an increase of 2 points and an assist over his first 11 contests). Last night the senior didn't neglect his game nor his teammates, finishing with 25 points and 6 assists (both CAA highs for Campbell this year) against ODU.
Defensively the Patriots did a decent job of containing the Monarch's Gerald Lee to 11 points on 4 of 9 shooting; as a whole they limited ODU to 27% from the field while building a 23 point halftime lead--and just as crucial they came out strong in the second half (both of their league losses have come after letting halftime leads dissolve).
GMU continues its attempted climb to the top of the standings with a trip to UNC-Wilmington Saturday (Seahawks are a game behind GMU in the league standings) and a home game with conference-leading Virginia Commonwealth Tuesday. I saw the Ram backcourt of Jamal Shuler and Eric Maynor go off against Maryland at the BB&T in November; with GMU's attack on all cylinders this will be one enjoyable game to watch.
By the way, throughout the next few months I'll be looking at little things involved in the gameday experience for fans and media at various arenas across the beltway--and nobody tops DOC NIX and the Green Machine Pep Band. Decked out in a very dapper emerald green or gold outfit, bandleader Nix is all about style--and the band is all about knocking the tar out of every song they play (I personally like the key-shaking during opponents free throws in the second period). Well worth the price of admission.
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