George Mason drubs Drexel

FAIRFAX, Va. - Bruiser Flint summed it up nicely. With his Drexel Dragons getting pounded, he looked over at the officials and called: "Guys, guys, are you kidding?"

They weren't.

In another lethargic performance, Drexel lost to George Mason 71-47, before 3,630 Wednesday night at the Patriot Center.

For the third time in the last two weeks, the Dragons lost in the Old Dominion State, and while Virginia may be for lovers, it clearly isn't for Drexel.

After losses at Virginia Commonwealth two weeks ago and at William and Mary on Saturday, the Dragons (11-6, 3-4 Colonial Athletic Association) fell behind quickly and were out of the game early in the second half. The 47 points were a season low.

"Brutal - that's what it was," Flint said. "We played with no energy."

Trailing by 37-30 at halftime, the Patriots (13-5, 5-3) went on a 12-4 run. With 16 minutes, 21 seconds to play and his team trailing by 49-34, Flint hopped up and called a time-out. Eight minutes later, Drexel was down by 58-37.

The season, which started with so much promise, has come apart for the Dragons. After winning eight of nine, including the shocking victory at No. 20 Louisville just five weeks ago, Drexel has lost four of six.

The Dragons fouled, fouled and fouled some more. Four players had four fouls midway through the second half, and Flint was forced to play the seldom-used Yannick Formbor, who has scored 11 points all season.

"We don't have that many guys. We get in that type of foul trouble, we're done, we're finished," Flint said.

Chris Fouch, who's been hampered by a sore left knee, fouled out with 5:45 to play, and scored just 11 points, six below his season average.

"I don't think we came ready to play as a unit," Fouch said. "We didn't get our flow going."

Less than a minute later, he was joined on the bench by Samme Givens, who had nine points and eight rebounds.

"They just paraded them to the foul line in the second half. They take your aggressiveness away," Flint said. "Some of the fouls they called - I thought they were ridiculous."

In the first half, George Mason's Luke Hancock scored 11 points in less than 12 minutes as the Patriots ran to a 25-13 lead with 7:19 to play before the break.

Hancock finished with 16 points to led the winners.

Of course, the Dragons won't be able to forgo more trips to Virginia. They'll have to come to Richmond in early March for the CAA tournament, but if they don't improve quickly, it could be an abbreviated visit.