Jalen Jenkins has gone to extremes in making game-winning buzzer beaters for George Mason. He may have the longest and shortest game winners in program history.

   In November, 2014, he hit a desperation heave from the opponents' foul line as the buzzer sounded for a 64-63 win that left Manhattan stunned and the Patriot Center crowd elated.

   On Saturday in the same venue, renamed EagleBankArena, Jenkins struck  from about one foot, about 72-feet closer than his previous game winner. The layup, his second attempt in a wild flurry at the end, was contested by defenders but good for a 60-59 lead with 1.9 seconds left.

   After Davidson missed a long desperation attempt at the buzzer, Jenkins, his teammates and a Homecoming crowd of 6,327 were ecstatic. When the disparity in the lengths of his two game-winners was mentioned, Jenkins smiled.

    “It was shorter,” said the 6-7 junior forward, who finished with 17 points and eight rebounds, “but it felt the same distance, you know?”

   The victory was the first A-10 home win of the season for the Patriots (9-16, 3-9), who had Davidson on the ropes in a road game last month before losing 81-75. The victory came with guard and leading scorer Marquise Moore sidelined for a third consecutive game with an ankle sprain and after the Patriots had led most of the game only to fall behind 57-51 with 2:29 left.

   “That's a really, really gratifying victory,” said Mason first-year coach Dave Paulsen. “We were in here two weeks ago, had a similar type of performance (against George Washington) but then couldn't close it down the stretch. I give our guys a ton of credit for fighting through that.”

   Mason closed the game on a 9-2 run. Center Shevon Thompson, a 48.9% foul shooter entering the game, hit two foul shots with 2:16 left to end a 6:16 scoring drought and cut the lead to 57-53.

   “We were teetering,” Paulsen said. “Those two free throws were huge.”

  The Patriots got some other huge shots. Guard Otis Livingston II, 0-for-8, hit a three pointer from the right wing to cut the lead to 57-56. After Davidson's Jack Gibbs hit a tough lefty layup to put the Wildcats ahead 59-56, Jaire Grayer hit a pull-up jumper from the left junction to draw Mason to 59-58.

   Brian Sullivan missed a three on Davidson's ensuing possession that was rebounded by the Patriots' DeAndre Abram. Paulsen elected to not call a timeout.

   Livingston ran a pick and roll on the rightwing with Jenkins, who missed a challenged layup attempt. Marko Gujanicic, whose eight second-half points sparked the Patriots, came crashing in from the left side and tried for a tip-in.

   He missed but Jenkins got the rebound on the right block and powered up over 6-7 Davidson sophomore Nathan Ekwu, like Jenkins a product of Cardinal Hayes High School in the Bronx, NY.

     “Everybody was in there fighting,” Jenkins said. “Next thing you know, the ball kind of just wound up in my hands. A natural reaction, I kind of put it in.”

   Gujanicic had a unique view. “I didn't see if he caught it; I was on the ground,” said the senior, who finished with 10 points, including two three-pointers in the second half. “Then I saw it go through the hoop. Awesome.”

   The Patriots' front line of Gujanicic (10 points, eight rebounds), Thompson (10 points, 10 rebounds), Abram (11 points, five rebounds) plus Jenkins (17 points, eight rebounds) off the bench accounted for 48 of 60 points and led a 44-36 rebounding advantage.

   “They came up huge,” Paulsen said.

  While Thompson had foul trouble and played just 17 minutes, Jenkins avoided foul trouble and logged 33 minutes, a season high. “With Jalen we'd like to take him out when we want to take him out and not have the officials take him out,” Paulsen said. “He was able to play 33 minutes today with only one foul. I thought that was key.”

   The Patriots also got a boost from reserve freshman guard Kameron Murrell, who didn't score but made Gibbs work after Grayer got into foul trouble. While Gibbs had a game-high 30 points, he shot 26 times, making 12, and was 0-for-4 on threes as the Wildcats were 3-for-19 beyond the arc.

   “Kameron Murrell gave us 21 great minutes defensively,” Paulsen said. “It is a pain in the rear end to chase those guards around.”

   The Patriots play at home Wednesday against St. Louis, whom they beat 92-79 a month ago, and at UMass on Sunday.

   The adrenaline and endorphins were still coursing through Jenkins' body in the post-game press conference. Asked about his reaction to his game winner, he said, “Refreshing. So refreshing. All our (A-10) wins had been on the road. When you get that win with that crowd, I think it's a great momentum builder. Going into Monday, I think we're going to be ready to work and keep the streak alive.”