PITTSBURGH, Pa. – Strong defense and clutch shooting sealed George Mason men's basketball's first Atlantic 10 Conference victory in program history on the road Saturday afternoon, defeating Duquesne 74-68 in the A.J. Palumbo Center. Sherrod Wright led the way with a game-high 23 points, while fellow classmate Bryon Allen added 17 points in the winning effort. Jalen Jenkins rounded out the trio of Patriots in double-figures with 10 points.
The win snapped a nine-game losing streak that included two overtime losses as Mason trailed for less than a minute in the victory that ended the streak. Seven different players scored Saturday afternoon as Mason improved to 1-4 in league road games with the win.
Mason shot 50.0 percent from the floor and 71.4 percent from the charity stripe, including a 7-for-10 effort over the final two minutes. The Patriots won the rebounding battle, 36-30, led by six rebounds from Erik Copes and Jenkins. Mason used 13 Duquesne turnovers to its advantage, converting the miscues into 15 points.
Mason led at the halftime break, 32-31, and outscored the Dukes in the second half, 42-37. Wright came alive in the second half, scoring 14 points and going 8-for-12 from the charity stripe. Allen added nine points in the final stanza as Jenkins contributed eight points. Duquesne opened the period taking its first and final lead of the contest on a Dominique McKoy jumper at 19:34 for a 33-32 edge. Mason would regain the advantage immediately as Marquise Moore hit a jumper at the 18:51 mark.
The Patriots would go on to lead by as many as 12 in the second half following Mason's final field goal of the contest from Allen at 2:21 for a 67-55 lead. The Dukes would never come closer than seven points in the final two minutes as Mason closed out the game at the free throw line for the win.
Mason wraps up this two-game road swing at Massachusetts on Wednesday, February 12 at 7 p.m. In the first meeting between the two squads earlier this season, UMass took the one-point victory in the final eight seconds.
