NEW ORLEANS – The George Mason University men's basketball team (10-2) erased a 13-point deficit and held one of the nation's top offenses to just 26 second-half points in a resilient 69-66 victory over Tulane (9-3) Friday afternoon in the Crescent City.
The Patriots trailed by 13 late in the first half and by 11 (40-29) at the break, but locked in on defense in the second stanza and shot 50 percent in the period to pick up the road win over top-100 Tulane, which was 6-0 at home to start the season.
The victory improves Mason to 10-2 on the year. A win in the non-conference finale on December 30 would give the Patriots 11 non-conference wins for just the second time in the program's Div. I era.
"My halftime speech was simple," head coach Tony Skinn ('06) said. "Sometimes, you just have to figure things out on your own. I told our guys whoever wants to play hard is who's going to play. They took that to heart. We came out in the second half, got stops and that gave us our confidence back. We were able to start chipping away at the lead and made winning plays. Resilience is the word."
Senior
Ronald Polite III pushed the Patriots to the win with his best game of the season to date. The Temple Hills, Md., product tallied 13 of his 16 points in the second half to go along with season highs in rebounds (7) and assists (6). Polite III scored Mason's final seven points, including a go-ahead 3-point play with less than three minutes to go.
"Point guard play is everything," Skinn said. "When you have a guy who's been here for four years and who's been through it, that leadership is so important. He stepped up on both ends of the floor and gave us life defensively.
Mason held the Green Wave to season lows in points (66) and field goal percentage (.345). Tulane entered the game first in the nation in field goal percentage (.536) and third in scoring (91.7 points/game).
Graduate forward
Amari Kelly chipped in his fourth double-double of the season with 16 points (5-8 FG), 10 rebounds and three blocks, while senior
Darius Maddox added 15 points (3-6 3pt FG). Sophomore
Keyshawn Hall registered 10 points and 11 rebounds for his A-10 leading seventh double-double of the season.
The two teams combined to start 8-of-28 from the field as Mason used an early advantage at the line to build a 17-12 lead. A 10-3 Green Wave run moved Tulane in front by seven (30-23) and the home team took an 11-point edge (40-29) into the break.
The Patriots rocketed out of the second half with a 16-4 run to surge back in front, 45-44, with 13:10 to play. Back-to-back buckets from Kelly extended the Mason edge to five (56-51) with 7:29 left, but a 6-0 spurt by Tulane moved the home team back in front by one (57-56).
Back-to-back triples from Hall and Kelly put Mason up 62-60 with 4:50 remaining. The Green Wave went back up 66-64, but Polite III's 3-point play propelled the Patriots to a 67-66 lead. Mason then held Tulane scoreless over the final 2:48, and Polite III's big time jumper with 1:08 left gave the Patriots the cushion they needed to secure the road victory.
The Patriots now take a competitive holiday break before wrapping up non-conference play on December 30 in Fairfax. George Mason will battle North Carolina A&T at 2 p.m. and the contest will be broadcast on ESPN+.
