Box Score (PDF)
FAIRFAX, Va. – The George Mason University men's basketball team (11-5, 2-1) improved to 10-1 at home this season after a 64-58 victory over Richmond (7-9, 2-1) Wednesday night inside EagleBank Arena.
The Spiders held a 32-28 edge at halftime, but the Patriots outscored Richmond by 10 (36-26) in the second half on the strength of outstanding defense. After holding Rhode Island scoreless for a 10:23 stretch Saturday, the Patriots limited the Spiders to 9:50 without a point in a lengthy sequence between the end of the first and the second half.
"That was a solid conference win," head coach Tony Skinn ('06) said. "As I look at some of the scores [around the A-10] tonight, it's safe to say nothing is going to come easy in this league. I'm proud of these guys with how they responded in the second half."
Junior
Brayden O'Connor led the Green & Gold with a team-best 16 points (8-9 FT) to go along with four assists and three rebounds in 36 minutes. It marked his third-straight contest with at least 12 points.
Senior
Woody Newton added 15 points (3-5 3pt FG) and six rebounds, while senior
Darius Maddox chipped in 10 points, including seven points in the final two minutes.
GM held a dominant 38-21 edge on the glass in the game and turned 13 offensive boards into a 14-2 edge in second chance points on the night.
Junior
Giovanni Emejuru had four of those offensive boards and finished with eight points and eight rebounds overall in 23 minutes.
The Patriots led 16-14 at the 9:43 mark of the first half. Richmond used an 8-2 run to go up four (22-18), then used a banked in 3-pointer to take a 32-27 lead. The Spiders held a 32-28 advantage at the break.
GM put forth Patriot Pressure out of the gate in the second stanza, using an 11-0 run over the first seven minutes to build a 41-32 edge. Richmond cut it to three (45-42) with 8:19 left and was within two (54-52) with 2:46 to go.
Five straight points from Maddox put GM ahead 61-54 with 58 seconds left, and the Spiders would not move closer than three for the remainder of the game.
George Mason remains at home to host Massachusetts on Saturday (Jan. 11). Tip-off between the Patriots and Minutemen is set for 2 p.m. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+.
