By Andrew Robinson
Bones Hyland scored 23 points, and notched his first career double double grabbing ten rebounds to help propel VCU to a 66-61 victory over George Mason at Eagle Bank Arena this evening.
The victory was the Rams’ seventh in a row, and positioned them atop the Atlantic 10 conference at 2-0, and 9-2 overall.
The Rams fell behind early by as many as nine points in the first half, and were struggling with George Mason’s 1-2-2 full court press, but eventually were able to settle in as the half wore on, and took their first lead of the game with 4:23 remaining in the first half.
“We didn’t have any pace,” VCU Head Coach Mike Rhoades said. “Honestly when teams press us, because we practice against it everyday, I want to beat it,I want to attack it. And we’re getting better at it but it’s something we have to work on as we move forward.”
VCU was led by their star guard Bones Hyland, who has enjoyed a breakout season after averaging nine points per game a year ago as a freshman. The sophomore lead guard is now averaging over 17 points per game and poured in a game high 23 points to lead all scorers.
Hyland has played his way into the conversation of not only being one of the best Mid Major guards in the country, but one of the best guards in the country regardless of level.
“I would just say me taking my game to a different level this year, just trying to hit every aspect, and more so just trying to do everything I can to help my teammates win,” Hyland said of his performance thus far this season. “When you play as hard as you can, sometimes you just get good results.”
For the Patriots, who were led by sophomore forward Josh Oduro with 13 points and 9 rebounds, as well as senior AJ Wilson and freshman Tyler Kolek who both chipped in 12 points a piece, this loss puts them at 1-2 in the Atlantic 10 and 5-4 overall.
After a stellar first half where the Patriots shot 41% from the field and 42% from the three point line, the second half was a completely different story that saw Mason shoot just 12% from the three point line, and 33% from the floor.
“I thought we played with a good pace in the first half, we played with a sense of composure. I think they switched up their coverages a little bit, and we didn’t adapt as well as you like,” George Mason Head Coach Dave Paulsen said. “Also we got some really good easy looks around the basket early on in the second half that didn’t go in, and that enabled them to extend a little bit more.”
However, the story of today took place just thirty minutes from Eagle Bank Arena, and it had nothing to do with a basketball game.
On a day where congress was set to certify the results of the 2020 presidential election, domestic terrorists launched an attack on our Nation's Capital, leaving one woman dead, many others injured, and the core of our democracy in shambles.
“It was terrifying to see, especially as a black man knowing what they did to us at the Black Lives Matter Protest. How they were shooting rubber bullets and basically torturing us,” George Mason Senior Guard Javon Greene said of today’s events. “They let the Trump supporters come into the capital and did what they did. And for them to not do anything, that kind of hurt me and the team. We were all kind of like ‘wow.’”
The events weighed heavily on both teams leading up to the game, however both teams decided to play despite the chaos that was unfolding just miles away.
“It’s a lot of crazy things going on in the world right now. But if we stay together as a family, hopefully things will change, but we weren’t trying to focus too much on that on game-day,” Hyland said.
Mike Rhoades grew up in politics based on his late father’s career as a state senator. He offered this response when asked what his message was to his team today after seeing what unfolded at the Capitol building
“I want us to really learn from it. That is not how you handle defeat. We all get whooped right? All things don’t go our way. Let's learn from it, and man we could be so much better,” Rhoades said on the violent response to the election results.
“I’ve had a lot of experience watching my pops for 28 years and i’ve seen it all. And he took some whoopings on the senate floor in Pennsylvania and he went back and became better for his constituents, that's what you do. And we’re going to teach our guys that, without a doubt.”
As the dust settles in the Nation's Capital, both these teams will look forward to their next matchups against Atlantic 10 opponents this weekend. George Mason will face off against the preseason favorite Richmond Spiders at home on Saturday January 9. While the Rams will return home to face Rhode Island on Saturday, who is coming off a tough seven point loss to Richmond on Wednesday night.