James River (23-6) abruptly ended George Mason’s state run with a 63-31 victory over the Mustangs (22-6), Thursday night in the Virginia A Division 2 State Semifinals. James River, defending State Champions, overpowered the struggling Mustangs throughout a majority of the game.
The Mustangs only managed to outplay James River for a minor portion of the match, going on a 7-1 run late in the first quarter answering to James River’s previous 9-0 lead. Uncharacteristic poor shooting and ball control continuously doomed the Mustangs throughout their first State Semifinal match since 2001.
James River quickly answered to the Mustangs’ run, shooting 50 percent from the field building a 37-18 lead by halftime. The Mustang offence never hit its stride since the first quarter only shooting 5 for 22 in the first half, allowing James Madison to continuously build upon their substantial lead.
Poor shooting plagued the Mustangs again in the second half, destroying any chance of a comeback. James River’s leading scorer Chris Ware continued to dominate the Mustangs offensively scoring 18 points of James River’s 67. The Mustangs only managed to shoot 1-15 three pointers, which was the main reason the Mustangs only scored 31 total points.
James River constantly took advantage of the Mustangs off performance finishing the game with a 32 point win. Despite losing big to
James River the Mustangs still have a bright future constantly starting four juniors, all of whom are returning to Mason next year.
