WHO: Men's Basketball vs. Colgate
WHERE: EagleBank Arena
FINAL SCORE: Colgate 66, Mason 53
RECORDS: Mason (0-1), Colgate (1-0)
KEY PLAYERS: Marquise Moore – 13 points; Shevon Thompson – 14 rebounds; Otis Livingston – 8 points; Jaire Grayer – 8 points

BOX SCORE (PDF)       BOX SCORE (HTML)


FAIRFAX, Va. – In the season-opener for both teams, the George Mason men's basketball team could not overcome a second half surge by the Colgate Raiders, falling 66-53 in EagleBank Arena. Colgate outscored Mason 46-31 in the second half to take the victory.

GAME NOTES
-Mason led at the halftime break 22-20 when Otis Livingston II hit a jumper at the buzzer to break a tie and give the Patriots the lead.
-Marko Gujanicic paced the Patriots with seven points in the first half, while Shevon Thompson pulled down a team-leading 11 boards in the first period.
-The Raiders opened with a 4-0 push out of the gate and held a six-point lead at the first Mason timeout.
-Marko Gujanicic fueled a 7-1 Mason run over the next minute and a half to tie the score at 12-12.
-Colgate would grab a four-point lead twice in the remaining minutes as the Patriots would knot the score twice before the conclusion of the half.
-Mason ended the period with a 4-0 run to hold the slight halftime advantage.
-The Patriots carried its run into the second half, scoring the first four points for an 8-0 run spanning the two periods, leading to a 26-20 Mason advantage.
-Mason would hold a six-point lead with 16:03 to play, but Colgate responded with an 11-0 run to gain a five-point advantage.
-Kameron Murrell would snap the run, hitting a triple, but the offensive output quickly ended for Mason as Colgate answered with a 6-0 run for an eight-point lead.
-Mason would cut the score to a one-point differential, but that would be the closest the Patriots would come the remainder of the contest.
-The Raiders finished the game going 10-for-14 at the charity stripe.
-Colgate held its largest lead of 13 points of the contest in the second half with 13 seconds to play.

STAT BREAKDOWN
-Mason shot 32.7 percent from the field to Colgate's 50.0 percent effort.
-The Patriots saw many opportunities at the free throw line, shooting 51.4 percent, going 18-for-35.
-Marquise Moore was 5-8 at the free throw line to lead the Patriots.
-Colgate shot 65.4 percent at the charity stripe, going 17-26.
-Both teams committed 14 turnovers as Colgate outscored Mason 28-22 in the paint.
-Tom Rivard came off the bench to lead all scorers with 23 points on the evening as Colgate had three scorers in double-figures.
-Colgate narrowly won the rebounding battle, 37-36.

NEXT ON THE COURT
-Mason begins a five-game road swing on Monday visiting Mercer in Macon, Ga. The Patriots tip at 7 p.m. on ESPN3.