WHO: Men's Basketball vs. Longwood
WHERE: EagleBank Arena, Fairfax, Va.
FINAL SCORE: Mason 75, Longwood 70
RECORDS: Mason (5-7), Longwood (3-9)
KEY PLAYERS: DeAndre Abram – 24 points; Marquise Moore – 15 points, 9 rebounds; Otis Livingston II – 12 points, 5 assists

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FAIRFAX, Va. – Behind a career-high from freshman DeAndre Abram, George Mason took the first meeting against Longwood 75-70 on Saturday night in EagleBank Arena. Abram poured in 24 points on 8-of-14 shooting to lead all scorers.

GAME NOTES
-Behind five points from Abram early in the game, Mason held its largest lead of the first half 5-1 with 17:19 to play.
-Longwood would answer with a 12-0 run over the next 4:12 to gain a 13-5 lead. The Lancers would grab their first double-digit advantage following a Leron Fisher layup at 9:01 for a 20-10 edge.
-The Lancers would grab their largest lead of the game off a Shaquille Johnson three-pointer at 8:18 for a 23-12 lead, but the Patriots would crawl their way back over the next eight minutes and tie the score at 29-29 at the free throw line from junior Myles Tate with 1:08 to play.
-Marquise Moore would hit a jumper with one second on the shot clock to give Mason a 32-31 halftime advantage.
-The Patriots and Lancers traded buckets to open the second half before the Patriots slowly expanded their lead and a 7-0 spurt in 1:13 of playing time forced Longwood to burn a timeout at 12:59 with Mason leading 53-42.
-Mason would hold its largest lead of 11 points on several occasions, but Longwood hung close and using a 6-0 run with under three minutes to play, cut the score to 66-62 with 2:35 on the clock.
-Longwood would slice the score to a one possession game (three points) on four occasions in the final two minutes, but Mason finished strong at the free throw line to cap the victory.

STAT BREAKDOWN
-Mason shot 39.0 percent for the game and 46.4 percent in the second half. For the first time this season, the squads were even on the boards, each pulling down 38 rebounds.
-Mason finished 23-of-32 at the charity stripe for a 71.9 percent shooting efficiency led by Marquise Moore's 7-of-11 effort. Otis Livingston II was 6-of-7 from the line.
-Three Patriots scored in double-figures led by Abram's 24 points. Moore added 15 points followed by Livingston with 12.
-Livingston tied his career-high with five assists, while Moore added four assists and led the rebounding effort for the Patriots with nine rebounds.
-Shaquille Johnson led the Lancers with a double-double of 23 points and 11 rebounds.
-Mason committed just five turnovers in the contest and converted 13 Longwood miscues into 19 points.

NEXT ON THE COURT
-Before Mason breaks for the Holidays, the Patriots welcome Wagner for a noon matchup on Tuesday for Kid's Day.