Cougar's Season Ends on Last-Second Tip-In

Final Score: George Mason 78, College of Charleston 77
Top Performers:
Anthony Stitt 21 points, (5-7 3pt)
Sherrod Wright 22 points, 2 steals
Adjehi Baru 16 points, 7 rebounds

That's all she wrote folks. The 2012-2013 men's basketball season is officially in the books as the College of Charleston Cougars lost a home heartbreaker to future CAA foe George Mason. The Cougars surrendered 44 points in the first half to the Patriots, came back from a double-digit deficit and held the lead until there were 0.6 seconds remaining in the game.

Up 77-76 with a 7 second shot clock and game clock differential, Anthony Stitt shook his man and pulled up for a shot from the elbow. The shot hit the front of the rim, tipped off the fingers of Anthony Thomas who had a chance at an offensive rebound and fell to Sherrod Wright. Wright went the length of the court, charged into Matt Sundberg (outside the restricted area) and missed a layup. Erik Copes tipped it in for the go-ahead game-winner.

It's tough to say exactly where the Cougars lost this one. You can point to the first half defense by CofC that allowed Mason to shoot 70% from the field, you can point to the refs for calling ticky-tack fouls all night and potentially missing a charge and basket interference in the final second, you can blame the coaches. None of that really matters though because the game, and the season, is over.

Had things gone differently in the final seconds this would have been a very different recap (for my full descent into madness, be sure to check out my Twitter). The Cougars made an epic second-half comeback behind Anthony Stitt's 19 second period points and outstanding free throw shooting. The College as a team was 20-22 from the charity stripe tonight. Adjehi Baru dominated the Patriots all night. Matt Sundberg was stellar in his final collegiate game.

But without Willis Hall the Cougars did not win the rebounding battle. All too often there were not enough box-outs on the offensive and defensive ends to secure the boards. First half turnovers (mostly against full court pressure) also dug the Cougars into that early hole. The Patriots scored 17 points off the Cougs' nine turnovers in the first period.

When the Copes tip-in went in, I sat stunned for a good thirty minutes. Then I kicked some things. Then I got a call from my roommate who is a Mason alumni and expressed my emotions through words not fit to print on a semi family-friendly blog. After sitting with my mouth agape some more, I pulled it together.

That was one of the suckiest ways to end a season. But it should not be the way we remember this year.  The team was nowhere near short of expectations and we're just one year into the Wojcik era with plenty of upside. The two best players on the court tonight are just sophomores. Next year the team adds a 7-footer and the son of an NBA Hall-of-Famer. I know it hurts now but our beloved Cougars are in a good spot.

In the coming days I'll have lots of end of the year recap-y type stuff for CofC fans to chew on and hopefully it helps get us all out of the funk we're in right now. Most importantly, Go Cougars.