Long reached the 30 point mark thanks to 8-of-9 field goal shooting, including a 4-for-4 mark from 3-point range. He also connected on 10-of-13 free throws and had a game-high five assists. He was one of four Patriots in double-figures, joined by Ryan Pearson (14), senior Isaiah Tate (12) and sophomore Luke Hancock, who added 11 points. Denzel Bowles led the Dukes with a double-double, scoring 21 points and 14 rebounds.

It was a two-point game with 30.4 seconds left as Pearson headed to the line, and he drained both attempts. On their next time down the court, Hitchens missed a jumper for the Dukes and the rebound went to the Patriots. Pearson was sent back to the line and made one of two, setting up a 73-68 Mason lead. Hitchens went to the line and hit both attempts, making it a one possession game. A timeout by Mason set up an inbound to Long, who caught the pass and was fouled immediately. Long hit the first attempt and made it 74-70, but on the defensive rebound by the Dukes, Semenov drained a 3-pointer with 0.8 seconds left. Long was fouled and hit the first attempt, and the rebound from the second found the hands of Louis but he could not get a shot attempt off before the final buzzer.

Baskets from beyond the arc started off the game for each team, and the lead changed hands three times in the opening moments. Mason began with three treys and, followed by a pair of Long free throws and a layup by Morrison, opened up a 13-7 lead five minutes in. JMU closed within a basket at 13-11, but the Patriots answered with six straight to lead by eight. The gap again was narrowed to two after six straight points from Semenov, with the Dukes inching even closer at the 5:35 mark on Bowles' free throw which made it 23-22. The one-point margin held up until the 3:21 mark as Goins' free throws gave the Dukes a 27-26 lead.

Mason countered with a pair from Hancock and a Pearson 3-pointer to regain the advantage, and after a Ben Louis jumper, Hancock sank two more from the stripe to make it 33-29, but Wells' buzzer-beating 3-pointer sent the teams into the locker room with the score 33-32 in favor of the Patriots.

Long had 13 points to lead all scorers, including three treys, in the first half while Bowles contributed nine to lead the Dukes, who narrowly out-shot the Patriots by a 37-to-34.6 percent margin from the field.

JMU wasted little time in taking the lead as the second half opened, using a field goal by Wells at the 19:39 mark to go up 34-33. The lead changed hands twice more before a 12-2 run by the Dukes gave them their largest lead at 46-38. That eight-point margin would be the largest for the Dukes, as the Patriots answered with a 14-0 run spanning nearly three minutes to return the lead to the Patriots inside of 10 minutes remaining at 59-52. JMU responded once again, cutting it to one at 59-58. The teams traded baskets for an extended period of time to keep the margin between two and four points in favor of the Patriots before the final run of scoring.

Long became the first 30-point scorer for Mason since Dre Smith dropped 34 on Jan. 19, 2008, part of his NCAA-record 10-for-10 3-point shooting game. Both efforts occurred on the Dukes' home court.

The Patriots continue their road trip Monday night, traveling to Delaware for a 9 p.m. tip on MASN.