The ingredients were all there for an upset: home court advantage, a loud student section, and a team riding high on emotions following the death of a teammate’s family member. Not to mention it was the UNC Wilmington men’s basketball team’s biggest CAA rival.

But it was not to be.

UNCW kept it close in the opening period against George Mason, trailing 31-30 margin at halftime. However, the Seahawks fell victim to clutch Patriot shooting and playmaking in the second half en route to a 78-63 defeat.

“I told our guys that you’ve got to give them credit for the way they played and came in here. They’re a very good basketball team,” said UNCW head coach Buzz Peterson. “We’ve got to move on and can’t hang our heads. I appreciate the effort and the way we competed there, but we’ve got to get ready for the next one.”

George Mason point guard Andre Cornelius lit it up from outside, shooting 7 of 10 from behind the arc and contributing a game-high 25 points for the Patriots. The win makes 10 straight overall for GMU and seven straight against the Seahawks.

The Patriots scored on 10 of their first 11 possessions after the break, leading by double digits for the majority of the second half and by as many as 17 down the stretch.

 “Defensive-wise we played good in the first half,” said senior point guard Chad Tomko. “On the offensive end, we had some turnovers that you can’t have against them. They’re the best team in our conference. We can’t have those mistakes against them.”

GMU senior guard Cam Long came to life in the closing period, after being held to just three points in the first half. The heralded playmaker, who leads the team in scoring at 15.5 PPG, finished with 17 points in the winning effort.

“They’re one of those teams where you can’t really focus on one guy, because somebody else could burn you,” said Peterson of the team’s defensive effort on Long.

Tomko paced the Seahawks with 20 points in the loss, while junior swingman Trevor Deloach chipped in 16 points and 10 rebounds to complete his third career double-double.

Deloach is coming off three consecutive games in which he established career highs in points, with the most recent coming against William & Mary, in which the Saluda, S.C. native poured in 28. Earlier this week, Deloach was awarded the CAA Co-Player-of-the-Week award along with GMU junior forward Ryan Pearson.

The loss sets UNCW back to an 11-14 overall record and 5-9 in the CAA, giving them the ninth place spot in the conference. The win gives the Patriots sole possession of first place ahead of VCU, upping their record to 20-5 (12-2 in CAA).

The Seahawks travel to Baltimore this Saturday for a matchup with Towson. UNCW defeated the Tigers, who are winless in the CAA, earlier this season 66-60 in Trask Coliseum.