Box Score (PDF)

* Mason has now won five games in a row for the first time since the 2011-12 season
* The Patriots shot a season-best 47.1 percent (8-17) from 3-point range
* Freshman Ian Boyd tallied career bests in 3-point field goals made (3) and rebounds (8)

FAIRFAX, Va. – The George Mason University men's basketball team shot a season-best 47.1 percent from 3-point range during a 68-57 victory over Mercer Saturday afternoon inside EagleBank Arena.

The victory was Mason's fifth straight and second in a row at home. The Patriots are now on a five-game winning streak for the first time since the 2011-12 season.

"This was a terrific win for our program," head coach Dave Paulsen said. "Mercer is a very good team, particularly on the offensive end. We played excellent defense at times and they still hit tough shots. We told our guys to stay the course, and in the middle of the second half, we started to wear them down and made some stops to get some separation."

The Patriots knocked down 8-of-17 attempts from deep and shot 50 percent (27-54) overall in one of the team's best offensive efforts of the young campaign. Mercer shot 51.7 percent in the first half, but Mason dug in defensively and limited the Bears to 41.9 percent (13-31) in the second half.

Leading the 3-point barrage for the Patriots was freshman Ian Boyd, who hit a career best three triples and finished with 11 points and a career-best eight rebounds.

Senior Marquise Moore led the Patriots with 21 points and made 9-of-11 free throw attempts. The nation's top rebounding guard grabbed 12 rebounds in the game to tally his fifth double-double in nine games this season.

Sophomore Otis Livingston II matched his career high with seven assists and chipped in 17 points in 36 minutes. Redshirt-senior Jalen Jenkins added nine points and a pair of assists while making 4-of-6 field goal attempts.

The Patriots – who entered the game in the top-40 nationally in rebounding margin – held a +4 (35-31) edge on the glass and grabbed nine offensive boards on the day. Behind Boyd's effort, Mason also enjoyed a +7 (21-14) advantage in bench scoring.

Mercer jumped out to an 11-3 lead in the game's first five minutes, but Mason used a 9-2 run to pull within a point (13-12) at the 12:22 mark of the first half.

Mercer extended its lead back to four (32-28) with 3:50 to go in the stanza, but two 3-pointers from Boyd rocketed the Panthers ahead as the half wound down. In all, Mason closed the period on a 7-2 run and took a 35-34 edge into the break.

The Bears scored the first bucket of the second half but Mason took it from there, notching seven straight points – highlighted by a 3-pointer from Jaire Grayer – to move in front by seven (43-36) at the 17:35 mark.

Mercer moved back to within two (49-47), and again, Mason pushed back, this time with a 6-0 spurt to go up 55-47 with 10:46 to play.

The Patriots built the lead up to 11 (61-50) with 7:44 left and the Bears could not move closer than eight (73-65) for the remainder of the game.

Mason now hits the road for a pair of games in the Keystone State. The trip opens with a contest at Penn State on Wednesday (Dec. 7) at 7 p.m. The game will be televised nationally on the Big Ten Network.