With a minute to go, in a one possession game, you couldn’t argue with George Mason fouling one of William Monroe’s big men. The Mustangs took their chances by putting Markel Faulkner at the foul line, twice.
That didn’t go as planned for Mason.
And then, on the other end, Gary Morris came up with a pair of improbable rebounds. The junior guard joined Faulkner in the last minute free throw shooting contest for the Dragons. The two combined to hit six of their seven shots. That proved to be enough as Monroe held off a fourth quarter comeback by Mason, 54-46 to force, in all likelihood, a playoff against the Mustangs on Wednesday for the right to the Bull Run District regular season crown and a home Region B playoff game.
“I’m so proud — We played hard through the whole game and we’ve been playing hard for five straight games,” said Dragons coach Mike Maynard. “(Losing at Strasburg two weeks ago) woke us up. You can’t play basketball half speed and think you’re going to win before you start. From that next practice forward, we’ve been a different team.”
After a battle in the first half where the lead has tossed around and little separation was made, Monroe took its 4-point lead at the break and spun that into something significant to start the third, as a 6-0 run to begin the second half made it a double-digit lead for the home team playing on senior night in front of an animated crowd.
“Our defense was what won us the game,” Maynard said. “We came of the screens, they’re a very good outside shooting team and guard-oriented. Our game plan was to switch out of those screens and sometimes that meant putting a center on a guard, but we had to do it and the last time we played they ate us up on it.”
On the other end, the Dragons came right at the Mustangs, electing to pursue their offensive chances in the paint from start to finish. Markell Williams and Faulkner had huge nights underneath, despite both missing time.
“The plan was to get the ball to me and (Faulkner) and if they double teamed, we’d kick it back outside,” Williams said. “We love that job and we both take it seriously, take it to heart and tonight we executed.”
Faulkner was saddled with a fourth foul in the third quarter to curtail his minutes and Williams tweaked his ankle just a few minutes later. But with Morris picking up the slack by penetrating inside, Monroe was able to keep its distance until both of its big men were able to return.
“It was all about the team because they created the shots for me,” Morris said. “At the end it was nerve racking, but I was glad to be able to come through.”
The Mustangs made their move in the latter half of the fourth with Phillipe Griffiths shooting hand. The Mason senior’s first 3-pointer made it a 6-point game with 2:45 to go. Then a basket by William Nunley and another three from Griffiths separated by a pair of Morris free throws gave the Mustangs an 8-2 run to make the difference just three points.
Faulkner was sent to the line with 45 seconds and knocked down both foul shots to keep it a two possession contest, and Morris’ pair of free throw’s with 14 seconds on the clock negated a kick basket by Nunley underneath. Faulkner knocked down another free throw for good measure to finish the game.
“At the beginning of the season my free throws were off,” Faulkner said. “But every day in practice, coach Maynard had us shooting free throws and it’s improved. We needed big plays there at the end, and they just came up. (Late it was a) 3-point game and I didn’t feel like I was doing too good for my team, so I had to make those.”
Williams finished with 22 points and seven rebounds while Faulkner had 10 points and six boards. The Dragons had 22 of their first 26 points in the paint between Williams, Faulkner and Morris. The trio scored all but five of their team’s points and Jordan Gentry’s lone 3-pointer in the first half was the only field goal for Monroe that didn’t come from the paint.
Monroe (16-6, 11-2) has winless Rappahannock on the road Monday. Mason plays Manassas Park on the same day. If both teams win, the playoff will be held at Strasburg on Wednesday. If either team loses the other would take the Bull Run crown. If both lose, the above playoff would still take place.
