KINGSTON, R.I. – The George Mason University men's basketball team (19-11, 8-9) held Rhode Island to just 29.1 percent shooting during a dominant 69-51 victory Wednesday night inside the Ryan Center.
Mason led by nine at the break (32-23) and by as many as 21 (64-43) in the second half to complete the season sweep of the Rams. The victory gives George Mason 19 regular season (pre-conference tournament) wins for just the third time in the past 11 seasons.
The Green & Gold shot 43.9 percent for the game and 50 percent in the second half while making nine triples on the night.
Senior
Darius Maddox led the Patriots with a game-high 21 points and tied his personal best with five triples on 10 attempts. He converted 7-of-13 shots overall to go along with six rebounds and two steals in 35 minutes of work. Maddox averaged 22.5 points in the two games against the Rams this season.
Graduate forward
Amari Kelly added 18 points (7-13 FG, 2-3 3pt FG), six rebounds and two assists. Senior
Woody Newton chipped in nine points and eight rebounds, while freshman
Baraka Okojie dished out a game-high four assists and finished with nine points.
Senior
Ronald Polite III returned from a two game injury absence and tallied nine points, four rebounds and two assists.
Mason held a 30-22 edge in points in the paint and was +2 (39-37) on the glass. The Green & Gold are now 18-4 when winning the battle on the boards this season.
Back-to-back 3-pointers from Maddox gave the Patriots a 14-9 lead seven minutes into the game. URI cut it to two (16-14), but a 14-4 run by Mason pushed the Patriot edge up to 12 (30-18) with 3:40 to go in the half. The Green & Gold took a 32-23 advantage into the break.
The Patriots rocketed out of the half with the first eight points of the stanza to build a 40-23 lead. The Rams moved back within 10 at 51-41, but at that point, the Green & Gold ripped off a 13-2 run to go up 21 (64-43) with 5:31 to play.
George Mason wraps up the regular season with a Saturday afternoon contest vs. Richmond. Tip-off between the Patriots and Spiders is set for 2:30 p.m. The Senior Day contest will be broadcast nationally on USA Network.
