By Dick Patrick

The name of the last-second play George Mason called in Wednesday's home game against St. Joe's is Triple. The idea – with 5.0 seconds left, 94-feet to traverse and a 79-78 deficit – was to get the ball to Otis Livingston II heading up-court with a full head of steam.

But St. Joe's was focused on Livingston, who already had torched the Hawks for 22 points. They denied him the ball.

With a cutting Livingston covered, inbounder Justin Kier passed to a flashing Ian Boyd about 18 feet away near the foul line. Boyd instantly returned the ball to Kier streaking up the right side of the court.

"I kind looked up at clock and there was like 2-2.5 seconds left," Kier said. "I knew that I could get a shot off, but that wouldn't be the best look. I looked to my right and they gave (Livingston) a little space."
 

So Kier, 0-for-21 on threes this season, dished to Livingston, who had made four of five trey attempts in the game and was lurking a few feet beyond mid-court near the right sideline. Livingston took one quick dribble left, elevated to textbook shooting form and swished a 31-footer as the buzzer sounded for an 81-79 victory in the A-10 game.
 

All a stunned Chris Clover of St. Joe's (7-8, 2-2), who was guarding Livingston, could do was stand still, shoulders slumped. A few moments before, he had scored on a baseline inbounds play when a miscommunication involving Livingston left him wide open for a layup and a 79-78 lead. Now it was the Patriots (8-9, 2-2 A10) mobbing Livingston and celebrating.
 

"Justin made a great pass, handoff type of thing," Livingston said. "Give credit to him to have the awareness not to get frazzled by a late-game situation.

"Lately the coaches have had me working on deep threes off the dribble and off the catch. I got it, just ripped left and shot it. It was really comfortable. I've been working on it."

The Patriots have worked a lot since Sunday's 86-59 defeat against Davidson, their biggest loss of the season. Coach Dave Paulsen emphasized individual skills after meeting with each player and showing them clips illustrating mistakes. The coaching staff has then worked with players, focusing on corrections.

"This group has practiced really well," said Paulsen, in his third season in Fairfax. "This is a better practice team than either of the last two teams. They come with energy; they execute. Their attitudes are great.

"What was frustrating for probably all of them is there's this lag or gap between what's going on in practice and what's going on in a game. Part of it is it's a young team and that we're playing against good people. What we said was, 'If you play the game right, it doesn't guarantee success, but it guarantees you the best chance for success.'"

Livingston finished with 25 points on 10-for-13 shooting including 5-for-6 beyond the arc. In the last three games, the 5-11 junior is averaging 26 ppg and shooting 60% from the arc.

"Otis was phenomenal," Paulsen said.

Kier, 2-for-15 from the field in the two previous games, came close to a triple double with 12 points on 6-for-13 shooting, 10 rebounds and seven assists. The recent emphasis on taking one more dribble to get deeper in penetration with balance was apparent.

 
"This was the most complete game Justin played," Paulsen said of the sophomore guard. "That's maturation we need from him."

 
Boyd, shooting 33.3% in the previous six games, came off the bench to provide 15 points. Drilled on being less upright on his shot, he responded with 5-for-10 shooting including two clutch baskets down the stretch.

"Ian was huge for us," Paulsen said.

The Patriots also got a lift from Jaire Grayer's 13 points and six rebounds plus Greg Calixte's six points, seven rebounds and two blocks.

"We got great contributions up and down the lineup," Paulsen said. "The way these guys responded on Monday and Tuesday in practice working on their individual game was really gratifying."

Yet after leading virtually the entire game, the Patriots were facing defeat with a one-point deficit and five seconds left. Then came Triple, a play the team most recently worked on a few days ago.

"We've probably practiced that live 10 times this year and never scored on it in practice," Paulsen said.

But Kier to Boyd to Kier to Livingston worked Wednesday, evoking memories of Jalen Jenkins' 75-footer that beat Manhattan 64-63 in 2014 and Sherrod Wright's 30-footer that beat VCU 62-61 in 2012 that also created homecourt bedlam.

"It's fun when it works," Paulsen said. "There's plenty to teach and to learn from tonight, but again, I'd much rather do it after a win."