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Sports

Nothing But Praise for Pearson's Last Patriot Center Game

The Patriots will head to Northeastern, VCU.

Ryan Pearson stepped to the line with six seconds remaining. Sweat dripped off his forehead. The crowd was as quiet as it was loud 30 seconds earlier. He gathered himself, took a deep breath, and let his last Patriot Center free throws fly.

Pearson came through as usual. He converted on both free throws, cementing a victory for the Patriots (23-6), 75-71 against the visiting Lamar Cardinals (17-10) in front of a crowd of 7,014. 

“Man college goes by fast, you just have to enjoy it. I’m glad we went out with a win,” Pearson said. He along with seniors Mike Morrison and Andre Cornelius will be graduating in May. 

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The Cardinals had a 12-0 run early in the first half that vaulted them to a 9-point lead 6:33 into the game. George Mason quickly answered with a 12-0 run of their own, and then continued that momentum, building a 47-34 lead at the break.

But the Cardinals were not going back home without a fight. Their tenacity was evident down the stretch, when they stormed back from a 17-point deficit to regain the lead 69-68 on a ferocious dunk by sophomore forward Mike James with 3:15 on the clock.

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“[The Cardinals] easily could have just packed it in, but they kept playing defense, and they started making some shots,” George Mason Coach Paul Hewitt said. “Give Lamar and coach Knight a lot of credit.” 

The furious comeback fell short thanks to a three-pointer by senior guard Andre Cornelius with 2:51 to go only seconds after the Cardinals took their first and final lead of the second half. The two free throws by Pearson put the game out of reach for Lamar.

“I think he is that type of kid,” Lamar head coach Pat Knight said about Pearson. “When some of the other guys are having an off night, he can get you over the hump by himself. I think he is that good. “ 

The praise did not stop there. 

“I think if he were playing in the Big-12 or Big-10, [Pearson] would be All-Conference,” Knight added.

Flattering words from a man who has been around his fair share of talent. Pat Knight is the former head coach of Texas Tech, and is the son of legendary Indiana head coach Bobby Knight.

Knight finished his 1:40 minute-long epilogue on Pearson with “He’s a heck of a player. I’d love to have him. I’d love to have him at [Texas] Tech. My dad would have loved to have him at Indiana."

Pearson finished the game with 17 points on 6-13 shooting and added 10 rebounds, his last coming when the Cardinals missed a 5-foot floater that would have tied the game with 15 seconds remaining. 

“They got a good floater up but Mike [Morrison] contested the shot, and I was about getting the rebound,” Pearson said.  “We take pride in our defense, and when guys score on us we take it personally.”

The Patriots kept their NCAA tournament bid alive with the victory.  The Patriots hit the road for their final two regular season games against Northeastern University, followed by a must-see rematch with Virginia Commonwealth University.

“We got a game out at Northeastern. That hasn’t been the easiest environment for us to play in, so we are going to take it one game at a time,” Pearson said. “So we will worry about Northeastern on Wednesday and we will get to VCU when we get there.”

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