DUKES ELIMINATED IN CAA BASKETBALL QUARTERFINALS

Saturday, March 7

Richmond, Va.

6 p.m.

James Madison University

19-14

George Mason

21-9

James Madison

MASON

3/7/2009 5:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

RICHMOND, Va., March 7, 2009 ? George Mason guard Cam Long scored seven key points during the game's final 2:54 to spark his team to a 61-53 victory over James Madison in the quarterfinals of the Colonial Athletic Association Men's Basketball Championship at the Richmond Coliseum Saturday.

Long scored on a driving jumper with 2:54 to play to give the Patriots a 53-50 lead after JMU had rallied from a 49-44 deficit, and after a JMU missed shot he hit for a three-point field goal at 1:49 for a 56-50 George Mason advantage. Long then connected on two free throws with 30 seconds left for the game's final margin after his team had hit on only three of six other foul shots during the final 1:19.

Long finished with a team-high-tying 12 points, and his late three-pointer was among only two the Patriots hit in 13 attempts during the game. George Mason shot just 36.5 overall (19-52) but limited JMU to 27.4 percent (17-62) shooting overall and to but 19.0 percent (4-21) from three-point range. The Patriots were credited with blocking eight JMU shots.

JMU, the tournament's No. 7 seed, with the loss fell to 19-14 after reaching the quarterfinals for the first time since 2003. Second-seeded George Mason improved to 21-9 and advanced to Sunday's tournament semifinals to face 11th-seeded Towson, which beat third-seeded Northeastern in Saturday's final game. Top-seeded Virginia Commonwealth and fourth-seeded Old Dominion advanced to the semifinals during Saturday's afternoon session.

After JMU led 25-24 at halftime Saturday, George Mason began the second half with an 11-4 scoring run to lead 35-29 less than four minutes into the period and was up 40-35 before JMU used a 7-1 burst to go up 42-41 on a steal and layup by junior guard