Box Score (PDF)

* Mason held a +23 (53-30) edge on the glass and held UNI to 25.9 percent shooting
* Jaire Grayer led Mason with 14 points; Justin Kier was 6-of-6 from the line down the stretch
* UNI entered the game with a 26-1 record in November contests in the McLeod Center
 
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa – The George Mason University men's basketball team crashed the glass and hunkered down on defense during an outstanding 54-50 road victory over Northern Iowa Wednesday night inside the McLeod Center.
 
The Patriots held a +23 (53-30) edge on the glass against the Panthers, despite playing a lineup for times in the game that did not feature a player over 6-foot-4 inches tall. In an excellent defensive effort, the Patriots held Northern Iowa (3-3) to 25.9 percent shooting, including a 25.0 percent (8-32) mark from the 3-point line. UNI had entered the game shooting 40 percent from beyond the arc.
                                                                                                                                                                       
The victory for Mason was just the second by a UNI opponent in the McLeod Center during the month of November. UNI had entered the game with a 26-1 mark in November games all-time in the building.

"This was a gritty win by our team tonight," head coach Dave Paulsen said. "Northern Iowa plays exceptionally well in this building. It wasn't always pretty, but to compete and fight like we did shows maturity. I thought our team grew tonight."
 
Sophomore Jaire Grayer led the Patriots with 14 points and grabbed seven rebounds while sophomore guard Otis Livingston tallied 12 points (5-10 FG) and six rebounds in 35 minutes of work.
 
Freshman Justin Kier chipped in nine points and seven rebounds, while making a number of key free throws down the stretch. He hit 6-of-6 free throw attempts in the final four minutes, with two of those trips coming in a 1-and-1 situation.
 
Rounding out the Mason stat sheet, senior Marquise Moore grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds and registered nine points in 37 minutes of work.
 
Mason put together an outstanding defensive effort to begin the contest, limiting the Panthers to a 1-of-17 shooting start over the game's first 12 minutes. A triple from Livingston gave the Patriots an 11-6 edge and a lay-in from Moore extended the lead to 10 (18-8) and capped a 7-0 run for the Green & Gold.
 
The Patriots then struggled to score over the next five minutes and the Panthers took advantage, hitting a trio of triples to pull within two (22-20) at the 3:47 mark of the half. A Troy Temara dunk put Mason back up four (24-20), but UNI closed the half on an 8-0 run – and a 20-6 spurt overall – to take a 28-24 edge into the break.
 
The Patriots rocketed out of the gate in the second half, converting four of their first five field goal attempts to regain the lead by four (36-32) at the 14:22 mark of the period. From there, a 4+ minute scoring drought by the Patriots helped UNI pull even (37-37), then take a 42-37 advantage with 7:37 to go.
 
Mason held the Panthers scoreless over the next four minutes to stay close and a 3-pointer from Grayer moved the Patriots within two (44-42) with 4:31 to go. The teams exchanged scores over the next few possessions, but Livingston exploded to the rim and scored to put Mason back in front (48-47) with 1:40 to play.
 
After a UNI miss, the Panthers fouled with 50 seconds to go. Kier hit 2-of-2 free throws to put Mason up three (50-47), and the Patriots went 2-for-2 in an additional two trips to ice the game.

With the victory, Mason improves to 5-3 on the year. UNI is now 3-3. The Panthers' other two losses are to No. 7 Xavier.
 
Mason returns home for a matchup against mid-major power Mercer on Saturday (Dec. 3) at 4 p.m.