Photo Credit: Erik Schelkun, Elsestar Images

DAYTON, Ohio – The George Mason University men's basketball team (17-12, 9-7) continued its surge up the A-10 standings with a statement 74-69 win at Dayton (19-10, 11-5) on Saturday night inside a sold-out UD Arena.
 
The Patriots led 33-28 at the half and withstood a furious second-half Flyer run in which Dayton built a 51-45 edge with 9:12 left. Mason stormed back to tie it up 66-66, then locked in after senior Josh Oduro fouled out with 2:20 left to get key stops and sink a number of critical free throws.
 
The win is Mason's fourth-straight, second consecutive on the road, and shoots the Patriots into sixth place in the league standings with two contests remaining.
 
"The collective mindset of our team is coming together and I thought they showcased that today in great fashion," head coach Kim English said. "It was a tough environment against one of the best teams in our league. I'm really, really proud of our group. Everyone made huge plays late to secure the victory."
 
Junior Ronald Polite III tied his career-high with 22 points and fished out six assists to go along with two steals in 38 minutes. The Temple Hills, Md., product also hit a crucial 8-of-8 free throw attempts and made 6-of-11 shots overall.
 
Graduate guard DeVon Cooper had a vintage shooting night, knocking down 4-of-5 3-point attempts and tallying 16 points, five rebounds and two steals.
 
Despite playing just 23 minutes due to foul trouble, senior Josh Oduro added 12 points and dished out two assists.
 
The Patriots shot a season-best 58.1 percent (25-43) for the game and made 53.8 percent (7-13) of their 3-point attempts. Mason also forced 11 Flyer turnovers and held a +10 (18-8) edge on points off Flyer miscues. The Patriots also committed just eight turnovers on the other end of the floor and are now averaging just 7.7 turnovers over the past three contests.
 
The Patriots jumped out to a 14-9 lead, but the Flyers responded with a 10-2 run to take a 19-16 lead at the 8:58 mark of the opening half. George Mason battled back to tie the score at 25-25, then used an 8-1 spurt to build a 33-26 advantage. The Patriots took a 33-28 lead into halftime.
 
Dayton tied it back up at 33-33 early in the second half, but Mason pushed it back to five (40-35) after a jumper by Polite at the 16:23 mark. The Patriots led by four at 44-40, but at that point, Dayton rattled off an 11-1 run to take a 51-45 advantage with 9:12 left.
 
The Patriots scored 11 of the next 16 points, capped by a Cooper triple, to tie it up at 56-56 with 6:01 left. The next 5:30 of action featured five more lead changes before Cooper broke through with a clutch lay-in to put Mason up 68-66 with 43 seconds to go. Polite III then hit two clutch free throws to make it 70-66 with 10 seconds left. Dayton hit a late three, but it was not enough, as Polite III hit two more critical shots at the line and the Patriots staved off a late Dayton Hail Mary pass to pick up the clutch road win.

Dayton entered the game with a 51-8 in UD Arena over the past four seasons.
 
George Mason returns home for its Senior Night contest vs. Fordham. Tip-off on Wednesday (Mar. 1) between the Patriots and the Rams is set for 7 p.m. The game will be televised on MASN and broadcast on ESPN+.