BLACKSBURG, Va. – The George Mason University men's basketball team (9-1) could not withstand a furious mid-game shooting barrage by Virginia Tech (8-2) during a 73-62 setback to the Hokies on Saturday inside Cassell Coliseum.
 
The Patriots led by one at 26-25 with a little over five minutes to play in the first half, but Virginia Tech got red hot at that point, utilizing a decisive 35-11 run between the two halves from which the Patriots could not come back.

George Mason, winners of nine of the team's first 10 games of the season, returns to EagleBank Arena for next Saturday's Final Four 20th Anniversary game against Old Dominion.
 
"The first 12 minutes of the game, we only had two turnovers and it was a one possession game," head coach Tony Skinn ('06) said. "But in the last three minutes of the half, we turned it over three or four times and that's where the separation happened. You can't go on the road and go into the locker room down 13. I thought we gave it away in that small segment of the game. We won the second half [32-30], and if you take that end of the first half stretch away, it's a completely different game."
 
Kory Mincy led the Patriots with a team-high 16 points (3-4 3pt FG) and game-best eight assists in 34 minutes of work. Riley Allenspach added 11 points and five rebounds, while Jahari Long tallied 10 points and two assists.
 
Jaden Schutt hit six 3-pointers and finished with 18 points to lead the Hokies.
 
George Mason held a +9 (36-27) edge on the glass and was +7 (12-5) in second chance points. But Virginia Tech hit nine 3-pointers and shot 57.7 percent in the first half to propel their side to victory.
 
The Hokies jumped out to a 7-0 lead, but five-straight points by the Patriots cut the edge to two (13-11) at the 12:04 mark of the first half. Another 5-0 spurt pushed George Mason ahead at 24-22 and GMU led 26-25 with 5:32 remaining in the period. But at that point, the Hokies closed the stanza on an 18-4 run to take a 43-30 edge into the break.
 
The Patriots got it back to 10 at 47-37, but a 13-0 run pushed the Hokie lead to 23 (60-37) with 14:47 to play. George Mason could not move closer than 12 for the remainder of the game.
 
Next up, George Mason returns home to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of the 2006 Final Four run on December 13 vs. Old Dominion. Tip-off between the Patriots and Monarchs is set for 12:30 p.m. and the game will be broadcast nationally on USA Network. At halftime, former head coach Jim Larrañaga's banner will be raised into the rafters of EagleBank Arena.