Box Score (PDF)

FAIRFAX, Va. – The George Mason University men's basketball team matched offense with one of the top scoring teams in the nation and dug in on defense throughout the contest to pick up an 80-73 triumph over Toledo inside EagleBank Arena Saturday.
 
Mason held the Rockets' top-10 scoring offense (86.9 ppg) to just 73 points and its top-40 field goal percentage unit (.491) to 40.9 percent (27-66) from the floor.
 
The win was Mason's third straight and came against its highest ranked KenPom opponent (90) of the campaign.
 
Mason improved to 4-0 when shooting 50 percent or better from the floor, as the Patriots knocked down 50.9 percent (28-55) of its shot attempts and converted 7-of-16 attempts (.438) from beyond the arc.
 
The Patriots also enjoyed a sizable 26-14 edge in bench scoring and won the battle on the boards, 37-36.
 
Graduate guard DeVon Cooper led the Green & Gold with 19 points on an efficient 8-of-12 shooting night. He also made 3-of-5 attempts from 3-point range and grabbed four rebounds in 31 minutes.
 
Graduate guard Victor Bailey Jr. tallied the first double-double of his career with 11 points and a personal-best 10 rebounds. He also hit a critical 3-pointer late in the game and went an important 6-of-7 from the free throw line in the game's closing minute.
 
Senior Davonte Gaines added nine points, four rebounds and two assists, while graduate forward Ginika Ojiako tallied nine points and four rebounds. Junior Ronald Polite III chipped in nine points as well.
 
The Patriots held Toledo star RayJ Dennis, who entered the game averaging 18.7 points per game, to just 10 on 4-of-18 shooting from the floor.
 
Toledo took an early 10-3 lead and held a 17-9 advantage at the 13:23 mark of the opening stanza. A 9-0 spurt by the Patriots pushed Mason in front, 28-25, and the Green & Gold took their largest lead of the half, 35-29, with 1:34 left in the stanza. Mason held a 35-32 advantage at the break.
 
Toledo cut the Mason lead to 42-41 with 16:05 to play, but the Patriots went ahead by five (48-43) after a lay-in from Polite III at the 13:45 mark.
 
The Patriots remained ahead by that margin (58-53) with 7:56 to go, but the Rockets pushed back to tie it at 54-54 with 2:52 left.
 
A lay-in from Josh Oduro pulled Mason back in front by six (71-65) with 1:22 left. Toledo cut it to three 71-68 with 1:05 left, but that big three from Bailey put the Mason lead back to six (74-68) with 39 seconds to go.
 
The Patriots now wrap up their four-game homestand with a contest against Maryland Eastern Shore on Tuesday night at 7 p.m.