ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. – The George Mason University men's basketball team (4-1) showed tremendous grit and determination Monday night during a pressure-packed 73-71 victory over South Dakota State in the Jacksonville Classic.
 
The Patriots trailed 71-69 with a minute to play, but converted on their final two possessions while holding the Jackrabbits scoreless.
 
Sophomore Keyshawn Hall, the reigning A-10 Player of the Week, nailed the game winner with three seconds to play and finished with just the ninth 20+ point, 15+ rebound effort by a Patriot since 2010.
 
"It's amazing what you can learn in 24 hours," head coach Tony Skinn ('06) said. "It was a game of ups and downs. Our guys showed the resilience we were missing last night in our close loss. Even though it wasn't a perfect game today, I couldn't have asked for a better outcome in terms of learning who we are and what it takes to get a win."
 
The Patriots certainly learned from Sunday's nail-biting defeat to Charlotte and carried crunch time confidence and momentum into Monday.
 
Hall tallied team highs in points (21) and rebounds (15) while leading the Green & Gold with a career-best four assists. He is now averaging 22.7 points, 11.7 rebounds and 2.7 assists over the past three games.
 
Graduate forward Amari Kelly added the first double-double of his Mason career with 10 points, 10 rebounds and two blocks. It marks the first time two Mason players have recorded double-doubles in the same game since February 2021.
 
Senior Darius Maddox added 14 points, four rebounds and tied his career-best with four assists, while freshman Barak Okojie posted a career-best 12 points (4-5 FG) in 18 minutes.
 
SDSU held a +18 (36-18) edge in points in the paint, but Mason hit a season-best 10 3-pointers on 26 attempts (.385) and held a +6 (12-6) edge in second chance points on the strength of 11 offensive rebounds.
 
The teams played to ties of 14-14 and 21-21, before a 3-pointer from Woody Newton put Mason in front, 27-25. A Hall triple gave Mason a 32-29 advantage, but the Jackrabbits scored seven of the last nine points of the half to take a 36-34 lead into the break.
 
After a back-and-forth few minutes to begin the second half, Mason rattled off an 8-2 spurt, capped by a Kelly 3-pointer, to build a 52-46 advantage at the 12:15 mark of the second half. The Jackrabbits cut it to 54-53, but Mason went back up five (58-53) on a lay-in from Malik Henry.
 
Mason held a 3-point edge (69-66) with 2:41 to go, but SDSU scored the next five points to push the Jackrabbits back in front, 71-69, with a minute to left.
 
But from there, Amari Kelly grabbed a key offensive rebound and was fouled on Mason's next possession. He made both free throws to tie it up. Then, after Okojie made a key steal on the ensuing Jackrabbit possession, Mason set up the final play for Hall, who scored with three seconds left. SDSU's last second heave was no good.
 
Mason returns to EagleBank Arena to host East Carolina on Saturday (Nov. 25) at 2 p.m. It's Holiday Fest and the first 1000 fans will receive a roll of free Patriot wrapping paper.