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Sports

Allen plays a major role for Mason

Local product has been the starting guard for most of the season for the Patriots.

This has been a wild season so far for Bryon Allen, who grew up in the Largo/Upper Marlboro area.

A junior for George Mason University, he started the first four games at point guard for new head coach Paul Hewitt. Allen then came off the bench the next two games in favor of Corey Edwards, a freshman point guard.

But then Allen was back in the starting lineup when Edwards missed two games in a row with a concussion. Allen also started in the 10th game of the season on Saturday as Mason won 76-61 at Radford in a non-league game between Virginia schools.

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In the first 10 games, Allen has made eight starts and is averaging 29.8 minutes and 7.3 points per game, which is fifth on the team. He is first in assists with 35.

"It does not matter to me who starts," Allen told Patch after a win at Towson earlier this month. "It just matters who ends. I have matured real quick."

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Allen started at Radford and had 11 points, six rebounds and six assists with two tunovers in 31 minutes. Edwards came off the bench and had three assists and two points.

"He does a good job of pressing the basketball," Hewitt said of Edwards following a win over Brown last month when Edwards was the starter. "That does not mean we have given up on Bryon. I thought he played better tonight."

Allen had 10 points as Mason won at Towson in the first CAA game of the season for both teams Dec. 3. "Towson is a very good, athletic team," Allen told Patch. "We all clicked together" in the win.

Local players aid UMass

Javorn Farrell, a former player at Riverdale Baptist, had six assists for UMass in a win on Friday against Siena in men's college basketball.

The junior has played in the first 11 games, with nine starts and an average of about eight points per outing. Max Esho, a former player at Dr. Henry A. Wise, Jr. High, is a redshirt freshman for UMass and has come off the bench in the first 11 games for the Atlantic 10 Conference team.

Derek Kellogg, the head coach for UMass, said of Farrell: "He is a kid who has played hard. I think he can continue to improve. He has done a good job defensively."

"Max has been very good for us, energy-wise," Kellogg told Patch. "He is very good on the front of the press. He has a lot of untapped potential. He can be good. I like the way the kids from that area (in Maryland) play and handle themselves off the court."

UMass is one of the teams in the league off to a good start in non-conference play. "It is great to see our conference doing so well on a national level. A lot of teams are playing well. We are playing pretty good ourselves," Kellogg added.

Drummond excels for Loyola

Justin Drummond, who played basketball at Riverdale Baptist, came off the bench to score nine points for Loyola in a 65-54 win over Mount St. Mary's on Saturday. Drummond is a sophomore for Loyola and head coach Jimmy Patsos, a former assistant at Maryland.

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