You've heard of the triple double, the rare occurrence – unless you're NBA star Russell Westbrook or James Harden -- of double figure totals in three stat categories such as points, rebounds and assists. But this season the Mason men have accomplished the even more rare and possibly unprecedented – the double Triple – heading into Saturday's 6 p.m. home game against UMass.
In this case "Triple" is the Patriots' last-second, length-of-the-court inbounds play, used to torture St. Joe's in games where the Hawks have overcome double-digit deficits only to have their hearts broken by a buzzer beating jumper.It happened the first time on Jan.10 at EagleBank Arena.
St. Joe's, down 12 in the second half, took a 79-78 lead with five seconds left. After an immediate timeout, Mason coach
Dave Paulsen called for Triple. The play went from inbounder
Justin Kier to
Ian Boyd to Kier to
Otis Livingston II who took one dribble to his left before drilling a 30 footer for an 81-79 win.
Remarkably, it happened again Wednesday in Philadelphia after the Hawks, down 20 early in the second half, tied the score 76-76 on two foul shots with five seconds left. Mason called timeout and Paulsen called for Triple again but with a few tweaks.
This time, Livingston II inbounded to Boyd who immediately returned the ball to Livingston II, streaking up the right sideline and drawing the attention of St. Joe's defenders. Past midcourt, Livingston veered left with a cross-over dribble between two defenders. He began to lose control of the ball as he fell to the floor.
Just when virtually everyone figured the game was headed to overtime, the ball popped into the hands of Boyd, positioned about four feet above the top of the circle. His 25-footer rippled the net.
"I didn't think he was going to have enough time to pick it up fast enough, but he got it off in time," said Mason assistant
Aaron Kelly. "It was incredible."
To Boyd, it was just like practice. "He threw it to me and I shot it," said Boyd, who finished with 12 points. "Me and Otis, we do that just about every day, shoot threes after practice, passing the ball to each other."
Not everyone would call the ball winding up in Boyd's hand as Livingston II hit the deck a pass. The scorer at St. Joe's did not give Livingston II an assist. "I don't care," Livingston II said.
There were four players – Livingston II and three Hawk defenders -- lying on the court as Boyd's shot went in. Livingston II was the first of the group off the deck, celebrating more demonstrably than when he made his Jan.10 jumper.
"It's a win," Livingston II said. "That's your teammate; that's your brother. You're just as happy for him as for yourself. That's how this whole team is. We all pull for each other."
Boyd, a 6-4 sophomore guard, began the season as a starter. But since mid-December when the Patriots inserted 6-8 freshmen
Greg Calixte into the starting lineup, Boyd has been coming off the bench. He's providing a spark, averaging 10.2 ppg in the last five games.
It's tough to get Boyd to talk about himself. His contributions also are often understated though Paulsen appreciates and has repeatedly complimented the guard's play.
"I just try to bring my team energy, getting loose balls, steals, rebounds and second chances," Boyd said. "I'm trying to help the team in any way I can."
Twenty-five foot buzzer beaters are nice, too.
Human double double: Natalie Butler, who leads the nation in double doubles for women, goes after her 29th consecutive game with at least 10 points and 10 rebounds in Sunday's home contest against LaSalle at 2 p.m. in the first game of the EagleBank Arena double-header. The 6-5 graduate transfer from Connecticut also leads Division I with 16.4 rpg and is averaging 18.3 ppg.
"I knew she was going to be a special player for us," Mason coach
Nyla Milleson said. "But to come in and do what she's done is really remarkable."
