George Mason

An electric week in Baltimore sports reached the Towson Center last night, when Towson got George Mason, the darling of last year's NCAA tournament. The Tigers squandered an opportunity to win over some curiosity-seekers, and the Patriots showed that they're ready to resume being a factor in the Colonial Athletic Association, as George Mason put together its most complete game of the season and pounded Towson, 73-44. Towson (7-8, 2-3) lost for the fifth time in seven games. George Mason (8-7, 2-3)

THE FRAMERS of the Constitution considered the impeachment mechanism so crucial that it emerged from the very beginning of the Constitutional Convention. Edmund Randolph included it in his Virginia Plan, which provided the basis for the initial debates at the convention.The Framers wanted an executive who could be held accountable for wrongful conduct, but they did not want to create a new monarchy in the executive office. Elbridge Gerry expressed the sentiment of the founding generation when he stated, "The maxim would never be adopted here that the chief Magistrate could do [no]

PointsWally Szczerbiak, Miami, Ohio 43Marcus Wilson, Evansville 34Johnny Hemsley, Miami 31Donald Watts, Washington 28Mike Pegues, Delaware 23Monroe Pippins, Fla. A&M 23ReboundsKevin Ault, SW Mo. State 14John Bennett, Delaware 14Isiah Victor, Tennessee 14Chris Mihm, Texas 14Danny Moore, SW Mo. State 13Eduardo Najera, Oklahoma 13AssistsPepe Sanchez, Temple 9Mateen Cleaves, Mich. State 8Vernon Jennings, Miami 8Rob Mestas, Miami, Ohio 8Kyle Runyan, Evansville 8Can anyone shoot?The eight teams that played in the first games at the four sites yesterday combined to shoot 36.3 percent from the field (173-for-477)

UMBC and Morgan State must be in hog heaven.While others scrap around for games this time of year, traveling to play teams ranging from low-majors such as Liberty to powerhouses such as Connecticut, the Retrievers and Bears each get two games against comparable teams this weekend in the Conference Challenge.The UMBC men and women (both 2-3) are hosting the event at the Retriever Activities Complex, beginning at 7 p.m. today, when the UMBC men play against Drexel.The UMBC women will play Penn at 2: 45 p.m. tomorrow, and the Morgan State men (0-5)

The UMBC men's basketball team held Drexel to 34 percent shooting and was nearly flawless at the free-throw line while downing the Dragons, 71-57, in the first game of the Conference Challenge last night at the Retriever Activities Complex in Catonsville.Terence Ward led with 19 points, followed by 13 points from Brad Martin and 12 from Kennedy Okafor, as the Retrievers (3-3) got back to .500 for the first time since Nov. 19.In beating the America East representative Drexel (1-3), UMBC got revenge for the Northeast Conference, whose Fairleigh Dickinson team had lost to the Dragons in overtime on Dec. 4. The Retrievers did so by holding Drexel's top scorers -- Mike Kouser and Tom Dearborn -- to seven second-half points.

Cara McFadden had four goals and an assist to lead George Mason over UMBC, 16-5, yesterday in women's lacrosse at UMBC.The Retrievers (0-2) had only one lead, 1-0, and the Patriots (2-0) followed with 11 consecutive goals to lead by 10 at halftime.Renee Tirocchi had a goal and an assist for UMBC, which got 16 saves from Amy Jagoda.GM 11 5 -- 16UMBC 1 4 -- 5Goals: GMU--McFadden 4, Paoli 3, Sander 2, Thomas, O'Garrow, Klosterman, Klapinski, Willett, Keegan, Leone; UMBC--Phoebus, Krastel, Tirocchi, Eldridge, Gerhart.

A slight smile crossed Terence Ward's face last night when he talked about how he shot down cross-town rival Towson University with 25 points.Ward was a hero again for the UMBC men's basketball team, which jolted Towson, 64-56, before 1,317 at the Towson Center.The 6-foot-1 junior point guard could do little wrong, just six days after his overtime shot with 2.5 seconds left rimmed the hoop and came out in a 63-62 loss to George Mason last Sunday."I had all Sunday night to think about that [missed]

Terence Ward had two chances to beat George Mason last night, and the second time should have been the charm.But fate played a dirty trick on UMBC's junior point guard with 3.3 seconds left in overtime when he drove the baseline and put up a running three-footer that could have won the game at the Retriever Activities Center.Ward's little floater rimmed the basket and was in the cylinder but rolled out. The ball hit Ward out of bounds with 2.5 seconds left to virtually wrap up a 63-62 George Mason overtime victory in a tight Conference Challenge duel.

COLLEGE PARK -- They were rested, but were the Terps ready?Playing for the first time in 16 days, No. 14 Maryland didn't completely awake from a long winter's nap until the last two minutes, when it overcame an upset bid by George Mason and posted a 69-66 victory over the Patriots before a sellout crowd of 14,500 at Cole Field House.Maryland's 70th straight nonconference win at home was in extreme doubt for much of the night. The Terps (9-2) went into the last three minutes down by two, but they limited George Mason to a single basket over a crucial four-minute stretch, freshman point guard Steve Blake snapped them out of their own offensive slump and Terence Morris hit a go-ahead free throw.

COLLEGE PARK -- Football quarterback Calvin McCall participated in his ninth practice with the Maryland basketball team last night, but coach Gary Williams had not yet added the 6-foot-2 shooting guard to the roster."

College soccer No. 2 Maryland men lose on road to George Mason, 2-0 The second-ranked Maryland men's team allowed a first-half goal for the first time this season and lost, 2-0, to George Mason on Tuesday night in Fairfax, Va. Maryland (5-2-1), which hadn't lost to George Mason (6-2) since 2001, outshot the Patriots 10-3 in the second half. "It was a very un-Maryland like performance tonight, and I take full responsibility," Terps coach Sasho Cirovski said. "We just weren't very connected today."

George Mason 56, Towson 48 - Josh Thornton scored a team-high 15 points and Troy Franklin (Mount Carmel) added 10, but Towson's surprising run in the Colonial Athletic Association tournament ended with a semifinal loss to George Mason last night in Richmond, Va. Cam Long scored 14 points and had three three-pointers and two key assists in the last eight minutes to lift the Patriots. Second seed George Mason (22-9) will face top seed Virginia Commonwealth tonight, with the winner likely claiming the league's only NCAA tournament berth.

George Mason 71, Towson 59 -Junior Hairston scored 19 points and grabbed 12 rebounds, but it wasn't enough as the Tigers fell to the host Patriots last night. Towson (10-21, 5-13 Colonial Athletic Association) stayed with George Mason (20-9, 13-5) for most of the first half and had a 25-20 lead at the 6:32 mark. But less than a minute later the Tigers went cold and didn't score for almost five minutes. Josh Thornton (10 points) was the only other Towson player to score in double figures.

This time, there would be no late-game heroics. After falling behind early, then pulling out consecutive one-point victories in its two previous games, Towson saw its luck finally run out in a 71-59 loss to Colonial Athletic Association foe George Mason before an announced 1,507 at the Towson Center. Leading scorer Junior Hairston, who came into the game averaging 14.5 points for the Tigers, was held to seven points on 3-for-10 shooting. Since joining the CAA eight years ago, the Tigers (7-9, 2-2)

George Mason scored the final nine points to hold off Mount St. Mary's, 72-60, in a nonconference matchup at the Patriot Center last night. Trailing 56-43 with 9:30 left in the game, the Mount went on a 17-7 run to cut the deficit to 63-60 after a three-pointer by Jean Cajou. George Mason answered with a long jumper from Cam Long on the next possession to start the game-deciding run. The Mount held a 32-30 lead early in the second half after a three-point play by Jeremy Goode, but the Patriots (4-1)

1 Who are you?: The Wizards find out whether they're different with a different coach in their first game since firing Eddie Jordan (left), against the Warriors (7 p.m., Comcast SportsNet). 2 Won't get fooled: Has Northern Illinois been practicing for Navy's tricky offense? ESPN must think this is going to be a classic, as it's being carried on ESPN Classic (7 p.m.). 3 Substitute: Villareal meets Manchester United for first place in their Champions League group (2:30 p.m., ESPN)

Towson defender Julie Ondrako looks forward this weekend to playing one -- and maybe both -- of the teams the Tigers lost to during the Colonial Athletic Association regular season. In the four-team CAA tournament at top-seeded William and Mary, the Tigers open tomorrow night with George Mason. If they get by the Patriots, they could face No. 1 seed William and Mary on Sunday. The Tigers (11-5), who finished 5-2 in the CAA and earned the third seed, let a four-goal lead slip away and lost to No. 2 seed George Mason, 13-10.

Towson's women's lacrosse team had no problem with close conference games last weekend, getting a big lead and holding it to beat Drexel and coming from behind to beat Hofstra, each by a single goal. Last night was a different story. The No. 16 Tigers jumped out to a four-goal lead, but No. 12 George Mason slowly came back and pulled away late to take a 13-10 victory in a physical Colonial Athletic Association game at Johnny Unitas Stadium. The Tigers (9-4, 3-1 CAA) had too many turnovers at critical moments and too often forced their offense while the Patriots (9-2, 2-1)

In April, make-or-break weekends come around pretty regularly for Towson's women's lacrosse team. This weekend might be the biggest when the No. 16 Tigers host a pair of Colonial Athletic Association rivals - No. 12 George Mason tonight and James Madison on Sunday afternoon. A couple of wins could have the Tigers, who are in first place, in strong position to win the CAA regular season, which would bring the CAA tournament to Johnny Unitas Stadium on May 2-4. With CAA games on Fridays and Sundays all through the month, the Tigers (9-3, 3-0 CAA)

Tennessee women's coach Pat Summitt said she feels really good about Candace Parker's chances of playing against Louisiana State in a Final Four matchup this weekend. Still, Summitt is taking few chances of further injuring her two-time All-American or wearing out any of her other players before then. The Lady Vols were off yesterday and planned only a light practice for today before traveling to Tampa, Fla. Parker dislocated her left shoulder in Tennessee's 53-45 win over Texas A&M in the Oklahoma City Regional final Tuesday night.