Final Four run has George Mason pondering future

Whither Cinderella after the ball? In the fairy tale, she lives happily ever after.
At George Mason University, it's wait and see.
The madness of March has given way to mid-May, but Final Four glory still simmers on a front burner here. When the Class of 2006 settles into their seats at Patriot Center for Saturday's commencement, GMU president Alan G. Merten plans to tell graduates they have lived through the most exciting year in school history.
"By the way," he will say, according to a draft of his speech, "let me quash the rumor right now that this year, instead of giving out diplomas, we are planning to give each graduate a basketball."
Mason officials say nothing will change in the way they approach men's basketball. Athletics director Tom O'Connor assembled his staff to make that point: "We got where we are because of who we are. We don't want to be anything different."
Even so, the NCAA tournament run has afforded a national profile to the heretofore lesser-known school, and there are signs of its impact — a higher yield (percentage of accepted students who enroll), twice as many prospective students taking tours, $1 million spent on GMU's Final Four stuff.
Signs of impact are visible in the athletics department as well. O'Connor and head coach Jim Larranaga received new contracts. A plan to build a training center for basketball got a big boost. A top junior-college recruit is coming, thanks largely to the tumult of the tournament run.
Burke Magnus, who schedules games for ABC, ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU, says he expects Mason on his schedules four or five times next season. He says he is in talks with GMU and Duke about a Dec. 9 game at Duke.

NC-Wilmington vs. Hofstra

With a 23-point lead whittled to almost nothing, North Carolina-Wilmington's T.J. Carter put it upon himself to take control.
Carter scored 12 of his 23 points in the final three minutes Monday night, including 10-straight to provide a comfort zone, and the Seahawks beat Hofstra 78-67 to win their fourth Colonial Athletic Association championship in seven years.
"I kind of had to make plays," the junior guard said. "That's my job here. That's what coach puts me out there to do. (My teammates) stepped up for me for 37 minutes, grinding it out, playing tough defense, rebounding the ball and making plays."
The Seahawks (25-7) earned the league's automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament, and left Hofstra and co-league champion George Mason hoping for at-large invitations.
In victory, Wilmington also had something of a told-you-so smile, having felt overlooked all weekend while Hofstra and George Mason's NCAA hopes were dissected.
Both are ahead of the Seahawks in the Ratings Percentage Index, but the Seahawks and Patriots shared the regular season title, and Wilmington was the top seed.
"We had a little chip on our shoulder all weekend," coach Brad Brownell said. "Very few people were talking about us, so we felt like we had to play our way in.

George Mason vs. Hofstra

Carlos Rivera scored 25 points and Hofstra turned the tables on one of the nation's top defensive teams, holding George Mason to just four field goals in the second half of a 58-49 victory in the semifinals of the Colonial Athletic Association Tournament Sunday.
Rivera had 17 points in the second half to rally Hofstra (24-6) to its sixth consecutive victory and its first trip to the CAA championship game in the Pride's five years in the league.
Second-seeded George Mason (23-7) came into the tournament holding opponents to 38.3 percent shooting, sixth best in Division I. But Hofstra pressed the Patriots into 32.7 percent shooting, including 17.4 percent off 4-for-23 shooting in the second half.
The third-seeded Pride advanced to Monday night's title game against top-seeded North Carolina-Wilmington, a 69-54 winner over Northeastern earlier Sunday.
Hofstra also got 20 points from Loren Stokes, who left after a collision with another player with 55 seconds left. Rivera added 10 rebounds.
Will Thomas led George Mason with 17 points. Tony Skinn added 10.
George Mason built a 10-point lead before making just one field goal over a span of more than eight minutes, bridging the two halves. That allowed Hofstra to cut its deficit to 36-35 on Stokes' short jumper in the lane with 13:16 remaining.

Drexel vs. Delaware

Sam McMahon's only field goal of the game, a baseline shot from just within the 3-point mark, lifted Delaware past Drexel 52-49 in a first-round game of the Colonial Athletic Association Tournament on Friday.
The Blue Hens (9-20) advanced to play top-seeded N.C.-Wilmington in Saturday's first quarterfinals game. With their eighth loss in the last 11 games, the Dragons finished 15-16.
There were five ties and eight lead changes in the second half, and the biggest lead for either team was four points. Following McMahon's basket, Frank Elegar missed a short jumper for the Dragons. Henry Olawoye's free throw then gave Delaware a 52-49 lead. Scott Rodgers missed a 3-pointer and Bashir Mason could not get off a shot at the buzzer for the Dragons.
The teams combined for 43 turnovers. Drexel shot just 28.8 percent for the game and missed 23-of-31 second-half attempts.
Rulon Washington and Harding Nana each had 16 points for the Blue Hens. Washington was 4-for-4 on 3-point attempts. Elegar led the Dragons with 11 points and Mason added 10.

Hofstra-NC-Wilmington

With a 23-point lead whittled to almost nothing, North Carolina-Wilmington's T.J. Carter put it upon himself to take control.
Carter scored 12 of his 23 points in the final three minutes Monday night, including 10-straight to provide a comfort zone, and the Seahawks beat Hofstra 78-67 to win their fourth Colonial Athletic Association championship in seven years.
``I kind of had to make plays,'' the junior guard said. ``That's my job here. That's what coach puts me out there to do. (My teammates) stepped up for me for 37 minutes, grinding it out, playing tough defense, rebounding the ball and making plays.''
The Seahawks (25-7) earned the league's automatic berth in the NCAA tournament, and left Hofstra and co-league champion George Mason hoping for at-large invitations.
In victory, Wilmington also had something of a told-you-so smile, having felt overlooked all weekend while Hofstra and George Mason's NCAA hopes were dissected.
Both are ahead of the Seahawks in the Ratings Percentage Index, but the Seahawks and Patriots shared the regular season title, and Wilmington was the top seed.
``We had a little chip on our shoulder all weekend,'' coach Brad Brownell said. ``Very few people were talking about us, so we felt like we had to play our way in.
``We did that tonight.''
For the Seahawks seniors, most of whom were bit players when Wilmington last won the tournament title in 2003, the victory was verification of their excellence.
``If we wouldn't have done this, they would have said, `Yeah, they were a great team, but they couldn't win a championship,'' forward Beckham Myrick said.
The Pride (24-6) trailed by 23 early in the second half of their first appearance in the conference championship game, rallied furiously to get within 62-59 with 3 minutes left, then couldn't stop Carter from ensuring the Seahawks would hang on.
Their undoing came in the first part of each half, when the Seahawks bolted to leads of 20 points, then had to hang on as Hofstra played zone defense and closed in.
``We had to go to the rope-a-dope a while, kind of get ourselves back in the fight, but they didn't knock us out, and I'm proud of that,'' coach Tom Pecora said.
If not for Carter, the Seahawks might not even have gotten the decision.
He ended a 1-for-12 shooting drought for the Seahawks with a 6-foot bank shot with 2:51 left, converted a three-point play 40 seconds later and hit a 3-pointer with 1:21 to play, giving Wilmington a 70-63 lead. His free throws with 48.6 seconds left pushed the margin to 72-63, and he made both ends of a one-and-one with 37.5 left.
The Pride didn't help themselves by allowing the big runs, including a blistering 8-for-9 start to the second half that gave the Seahawks a 53-30 lead with 16:17 left.
``We didn't execute the game plan,'' said Loren Stokes, who led the Pride with 26 points. ``We got down 20 and it's hard to get back in the game with a team that good.''
The victory was the eighth in a row for the Seahawks, who will move on to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2003. Hofstra's six-game win streak ended.
After allowing an 11-0 run late in the first half, the Seahawks came out sizzling in the second half. Carter's 3-pointer capped the burst, making the lead 23.
But as they had in the first half after falling far behind, the Pride extended their defense and rallied behind Stokes, who scored 15 points after halftime.
Trailing 59-40, Hofstra went on a 19-3 run with Stokes scoring seven, Carlos Rivera and Antoine Agudio hitting 3-pointers and Adrian Uter adding five points.
The Seahawks were just 1-for-12 from the field during the burst, a drought Carter finally ended with his 6-footer. After a free throw by Uter at the other end, Carter scored again, was fouled and completed the three-point play for a 67-60 Seahawks lead.
Carter, the tournament MVP, also grabbed 13 rebounds. Todd Hendley added 15 points, Mitch Laue and Beckham Wyrick had 12 each and John Goldsberry had 10 assists.
Rivera had 16 and Agudio had 13 for the Pride, which shot just 37.5 percent.
The first 15:43 was essentially a long run for the Seahawks as Hofstra missed 14 of its first 16 shots and Wilmington made 13 of 27. Carter's three-point play with 4:17 left in the half gave the Seahawks their biggest lead to that point at 35-15.
But the prospect of getting blown out seemed to awaken the Pride, who launched an 11-0 run, with Stokes getting the first five. Goldsberry finally ended the run with a 3-pointer 19 seconds before halftime, and the Seahawks led 38-26 at the break.