Freshman Damion Lee leads Drexel to 60-53 win over George Mason

In front of a loud, enthusiastic Daskalakis Athletic Center crowd, Damion Lee played the part of pep leader.

The Drexel freshman knocked down four of his seven second-half three-pointers, none bigger than his splash with 2 minutes, 49 seconds remaining that gave the Dragons a five-point lead en route to a 60-53 win over visiting Colonial Athletic Association foe George Mason on Thursday night.

After the ball floated smoothly through the net, Lee let his feelings be known. He hopped across the far sideline, arms swinging wildly, sending the sellout crowd into a frenzy. Before marking his man after the ensuing Mason timeout, the sharpshooting guard stood in front of the Dragons' student section, raising his hands to the sky and pleading for noise.

"I was just thinking to get the ball again and shoot it, because I felt hot," said Lee, who finished with a season-high and game-high 21 points. "And I knew if we got the crowd involved, it would be harder for them to score. . . . Drexel, hands down, has the best crowd in the CAA."

Lee said he couldn't recall having a hot streak like the one he had in the second half. He scored 13 straight points for the Dragons in less than four minutes to cap a 13-6 run.

"He made all the big plays and shot it when he was supposed to," said Drexel coach Bruiser Flint, whose team improved to 11-5 overall, 3-2 CAA.

Samme Givens, the Dragons' leading scorer, spent nine minutes of the second half on the bench in foul trouble. When he returned with 9:33 left, he brought an aggressiveness on the offensive glass that seemed to permeate throughout the team.

Although he finished with just eight points, Givens had a team-high 10 rebounds, and his offensive board and pair of foul shots with 12 seconds left to ice the win.

The defeat is Mason's first regular-season conference loss since February 2010. The 18 straight wins were a conference record. The Patriots (12-5, 4-1) seemed to dominate the lane in the first half behind the play of freshman forward Erik Copes. The 6-foot-8 Imhotep Charter product swatted away a career-high seven blocks before leaving the game with an apparent leg injury early in the second half.

At the buzzer of the first half, sophomore forward Jonathan Arledge put back Andre Cornelius' errant three-pointer to give the Patriots a 27-22 lead. Mason ended the half on a 7-2 run, turning back the Dragons' late rally.