FAIRFAX, Va. – The George Mason men's basketball team held Rhode Island without a field goal for the last 4:45 minutes of play while closing the game on a 7-0 run to cap a 61-54 non-conference victory Saturday afternoon. The win snapped the Rams' three-game win streak as Mason remained undefeated at home, improving to 5-2 overall, while URI dipped to 6-3.
Jalen Jenkins posted a career-night of 11 rebounds and five blocks, while tying his career-high in scoring with nine points. Mason won the battle of the boards, 36-30, fueled by Jenkins as the Patriots converted 12 offensive rebounds into 17 second chance points on the night. Sherrod Wright led Mason offensively with 16 points followed by Marko Gujanicic with 13. Gujanicic led Mason from the charity stripe, going 6-for-6, as the Patriots finished 17-of-26 from the line.
Tied at 54-54 with 2:26 left to play, Gujanicic jumpstarted Mason's final 7-0 run hitting a pair of free throws as URI went 0-5 from the field in the final 2:26. Bryon Allen hit Mason's final field goal of the contest with 39 seconds left to put the Patriots up by four, 58-54, as Mason finished the game going 3-for-6 from the charity stripe for the final 61-54 score.
The Rams immediately tied the score to open the second half as the teams worked through six ties and four lead changes in the stanza. Mason shot 47.6 percent in the second half, while holding the Rams to a 30.8 percent shooting efficiency. Jenkins led Mason in the period with seven points and eight rebounds.
Mason never trailed in the first half, leading by as many as seven points, 18-11, on a Gujanicic bucket at 11:53. The lead was short-lived as the Rams used a 12-6 run over the next 4:10 of play to slice the score to 24-23 following a Xavier Munford three-pointer at 7:05. Mason regained a five-point lead, but URI kept close, coming within 30-29 at 3:06 when Gilvydas Biruta hit a jumper to bring the Rams to within one. Hassan Martin hit the final bucket of the half with 1:16 to play for the 33-31 halftime score.
Munford was Rhode Island's leading scorer with 13 points, while Biruta added 12.The Rams shot 40.0 percent from the field and finished 12-of-17 from the free throw line.
Mason hosts South Florida to open the month of December when the Bulls visit Fairfax on Wednesday, Dec. 4. Game time is slated for 7 p.m. and will be televised on MASN.
