Patrick Stevens The Washington Times - January 5, 2009, 08:39PM

Just wrapping up work here in Fairfax after George Mason’s 58-52 defeat of Georgia State, and make no mistake, the four-guard set I mentioned in the post at the buzzer made a huge difference.

Mason guard Cam Long started beaming when I mentioned the decision. Making the tweak more interesting was coach Jim Larranaga‘s reaction to a question I asked about how often the Patriots had actually gone with four guards this season.

SEE RELATED:

“This season? Let me think,” Larranaga said before a brief pause. “Uh, this was the first time.”

Interesting stuff indeed for the Patriots (10-3, 3-0 CAA), who will share the league lead when the night comes to a close since Northeastern is flat-out blitzing Hofstra tonight.

Anyway, here’s the plus-minus for the night. Mason went 10 deep in the first half, just eight-deep after the break. For much of the final 7:51 —- as in all but about the final 13 seconds —- it was Long, John Vaughan, Dre Smith, Andre Cornelius and Darryl Monroe.

Player 1st half
 2nd half
 +/- Min.
1-Smith -4 +1 -3 30
2-Cornelius +9 +3 +12 26
13-Tate +8 DNP +8 3
20-Long +7 +2 +9 35
22-Morrison +5 -3 +2 10
23-Vaughan -2 +2 0 33
24-Pearson +7 -2 +5 12
32-Monroe +1 +3 +4 31
33-Birdsong -1 -6 -7 18
40-Fleming 0 DNP 0 2
Patrick Stevens