RICHMOND, Va. – The George Mason University men's basketball team (13-4, 2-2) cut a 17-point second half deficit to just two but could not quite get over the hump, falling to host Richmond (11-5, 3-0) by the score of 77-70 on Saturday night inside the Robins Center.
The Patriots trailed 60-43 with 11:40 to play but moved as close as two (72-70) with 1:06 remaining. But Mason could not score on its final three possessions as the Spiders held on for the victory.
"We didn't match the energy and intensity Richmond brought at the start of the game," head coach Tony Skinn ('06) said. "We can't go into these games on the road and spot teams points. Every team in this league is too good to have to keep trying to come back from these deficits. We gave it a fight at the end of the game but it wasn't enough."
Richmond's Jordan King put the Patriots in that early deficit and finished with a career night, tallying 31 points (11-15 FG, 6-8 3pt FG).
Senior
Darius Maddox led the Patriots with a team-best 18 points to go along with five rebounds and two assists, while senior
Ronald Polite III added 13 points (3-5 3pt FG) and a game-high six assists.
Graduate forward
Amari Kelly chipped in 13 points (6-10 FG) and six rebounds and
Jared Billups added 10 points, six rebounds and two steals.
The Spiders made 10-of-20 (.500) 3pt attempts on the night and converted 19-of-21 free throw attempts (.905).
The Patriots held a sizable 30-14 edge in points in the paint and shot 45.5 percent (25-55) overall. Mason also was +6 on the glass (32-26).
The Patriots started 4-of-4 from the floor and built an early 10-5 advantage. But King started the game on an absolute heater, hitting his first seven shots (4-4 3pt FG). That surge helped the Spiders build a 10-point edge (31-21) with 6:45 to go in the opening stanza. The Patriots cut it to seven twice in the closing minutes of the half but Richmond ultimately took a 43-32 advantage into the break.
The Patriots cut it to eight (43-35) after a Maddox 3-pointer to open the half, but from there, Richmond used a 7-0 spurt to go up 15 (50-35). The Spiders led by as many as 17 (60-43), but Mason clamped down on defense and used a 23-9 run over nearly nine minutes to cut the Richmond edge to just three (69-66) with 2:31 to go.
George Mason quickly turns around to battle George Washington Monday afternoon in a nationally-televised Martin Luther King Day showdown. Tip-off in Foggy Bottom between the Patriots and Revolutionaries is set for 2 p.m. The game will be broadcast on CBS Sports Network.
