WASHINGTON – The George Mason University men's basketball team (13-5, 2-3) repeated a familiar pattern during a 75-62 setback at George Washington (14-3, 3-1) on Monday afternoon inside the Smith Center.
The Patriots missed 23 of their first 28 shots and fell behind by 18 (31-13) late in the first half. It marked the fourth-straight road game Mason attempted to complete a significant second half comeback. The Green & Gold won the first two at Tulane and La Salle, but the road magic has started to run out after consecutive setbacks to Richmond and George Washington.
Mason cut it to five (42-37) early in the second half, but that's as close as the Patriots would get for the remainder of the game.
"It was a disappointing loss," head coach Tony Skinn ('06) said. "We have to figure out some things with these slow starts in the first half. It's something that's become consistent and I'll figure it out. That's my job. We came out better in the second half but had some things that didn't go our way. We have a day off tomorrow and we have a chance to regroup."
After making 7-of-31 (.226) field goal attempts in the first half, the Patriots shot an improved 41.7 percent (15-36) in the second.
The Revs were +8 (21-13) from the free throw line and got 24 points to Mason's 15 from beyond the arc, as GW went 8-of-21 (.381) from deep.
Sophomore
Keyshawn Hall led the Patriots with 19 points (7-17 FG), nine rebounds and two assists in 37 minutes of work.
Graduate forward
Amari Kelly added 14 points, five rebounds and three steals, while senior
Darius Maddox notched 11 points. Senior
Ronald Polite III dished out a team-high four assists.
The Revolutionaries jumped out to an 8-0 lead and increased the lead to 15 (25-10) at the 9:05 mark of the first half. GW went up 18 at 37-19, but the Patriots scored the final five points of the stanza to cut the lead to 12 (37-24) at the break.
Mason opened the second half on a 13-5 run to cut the GW lead down to five (42-37), but GW used an 8-2 spurt to go back up 11 (50-39).
The Patriots moved back within seven (61-54) with 6:22 left and got four straight stops against the Revs. But Mason could not convert on the other end of the floor and GW was able to push it back to 13 (67-54) with 3:18 left.
Next up, George Mason returns home to host St. Bonaventure on Saturday (Jan. 20) inside EagleBank Arena. Tip-off between the Patriots and Bonnies is set for 2 p.m. and the game will be broadcast on ESPN+.
