FAIRFAX, Va. – The George Mason University men's basketball team turned up the pressure in the second half during an 82-66 win over rival James Madison Saturday afternoon inside EagleBank Arena.
The victory improves the Patriots to 8-0 for the first time in school history and evens the all-time series between George Mason and James Madison at 51-51.
"This was a great, great college basketball game," head coach
Tony Skinn ('06) said. "EBA was phenomenal. This was an electric game and our fans were high level. That's a team that's going to win their conference. It felt like a conference game today. It was one of the first times all season we faced adversity and we responded. Tremendous win and I'm just happy for our guys."
After being named the Sunshine Slam MVP earlier in the week for a torrid performance in Florida, junior
Kory Mincy once again paced the Patriots offensively with a game-high 25 points (8-15 FG, 6-6 FT). He also grabbed five rebounds to go with two assists and two steals. Mincy averaged 23 points and shot 53.8 percent during the Patriots' 3-0 week.
Riley Allenspach added 17 points (7-11 FG) and a team-high nine rebounds, while
Masai Troutman (16 pts, 3 ast) and
Fatt Hill (15 pts, 4 reb, 2 ast) also put together outstanding games for the Green & Gold.
George Mason shot 54.5 percent (24-44) from the floor and limited the Dukes to just 26.5 percent in the deciding second half. The Patriots also enjoyed a significant 34-11 edge in bench scoring for the game.
JMU led for the majority of the first half and built the advantage to as many as seven (21-14) in the early going. The Dukes led 35-32 at the break.
George Mason used a 7-0 run to go up 39-35 at the 16:35 mark of the second half, but JMU moved within one (48-47) with 11:54 to play. A 14-6 stretch by the Patriots ballooned the lead to 12 (68-56) with 4:52 left and the Dukes could not move closer than eight for the remainder of the game.
Next up, the Patriots continue their two-game homestand with a Tuesday night contest against Ivy League foe Cornell. Tip-off on Dec. 2 between George Mason and the Big Red is set for 7 p.m.
