RICHMOND, Va. ? Third-seeded George Mason capitalized on No. 2 UNC Wilmington's poorest shooting performance of the season to advance to the finals of the 2008 Colonial Athletic Association Men's Basketball Championship with a 53-41 victory over the Seahawks Sunday at the Richmond Coliseum.
The Seahawks, who knocked off GMU twice during the regular campaign by a combined five points, couldn't find the magic this time around, converting a season-low 28.1 percent of their shots to fall to 20-13.
The Patriots, meanwhile, move on to their ninth CAA title game, playing upstart William & Mary Monday night for the league's automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament. The Tribe upset top-seeded VCU, 56-54, earlier Sunday.
Each club had just two men in double figures. Senior guard Folarin Campbell led the Patriots with 15 points and sophomore forward Louis Birdsong added 10. Senior guard T.J. Carter paced UNCW with 16 points and senior center Vladimir Kuljanin notched his 12th double-double of the season with 10 points and 11 rebounds.
UNCW trailed early and never managed to get over the hump in falling to 1-2 against GMU in CAA Tournament semifinals. The five starters for the Seahawks combined to shoot 15-for-60 from the field, including 4-for-19 from long distance.
Campbell helped GMU extend its 31-25 halftime lead to 38-30 early in the second half by scoring five of the eight points in the period. The versatile swing man hit the back end of a two free throws to push the Patriots ahead, 38-30, at 12:26.
Fountain canned a long trey at 10:41 to slice the lead to 38-33, but the Patriots kept the margin at nine points when Birdsong made a jumper near the free throw line with 7:48 left to stake GMU to a 44-35 advantage. The Patriots then closed out the game by connecting on 9-for-12 free throws over the final 8:49.
UNCW had three more field goals than GMU in the second half, but the Patriots outscored the Seahawks, 14-0, at the free throw line in the last 20 minutes.
GMU took a 31-26 lead into halftime after shooting 53.8 percent in the opening 20 minutes and holding the Seahawks to just 36.0 percent.
After a pair of free throws by Carter gave the Seahawks an early 7-4 lead at 15:26, sophomore forward Birdsong and junior guard Dre Smith helped the Patriots take control. Birdsong got things started with a tip-in at 14:56 and wound up sharing scoring honors at halftime with Smith as both starters picked up eight points apiece.
The Patriots led by as many as eight points in the first half before Kuljanin's layup with 58 seconds on the clock closed the gap to 31-25 at intermission. GMU enjoyed its biggest lead, 29-21, with 3:26 left when Smith drained a triple in front of the UNCW bench.
Game Notes: UNCW had 17 more shots than GMU in the contest...The Seahawks went 4-for-23 behind the arc...UNCW had eight turnovers to 13 miscues for GMU...Freshman point guard Chad Tomko, who scored 17 points in his tournament debut Saturday vs. Delaware, was held scoreless on 0-for-8 shooting...Senior forward Todd Hendley was limited to two points on 1-for-7 from the field...GMU outrebounded UNCW, 39-31...The Seahawks held GMU's leading scorer, senior forward Will Thomas, to only three field goal attempts...Senior guard T.J. Carter battled foul trouble again for the Seahawks and finished with four personals...Junior guard Dre Smith sat out with an injury after scoring eight points in 18 minutes in the first half...UNCW now stands 31-20 all-time in CAA Tournament games...Attendance for the semifinal was listed at 11,200.
