FAIRFAX, Va. – The George Mason University men's basketball team (27-9) nearly completed a dramatic second half comeback but could not get over the hump in a 75-67 loss to Bradley (28-8) on Saturday in the NIT Second Round.
The season comes to a close after the Green & Gold put together its most successful A-10 campaign to date. The Patriots set a new school record with 15 A-10 wins and matched the best overall win total (27) in school history. GMU also earned its first ever share of the A-10 regular season title and reached the conference title game for the first time since 2009. The Patriots also set a new program best for home wins (18) and swept their home A-10 slate (9-0) for the first time.
"I'm thankful for our seniors," A-10 Coach of the Year Tony Skinn ('06) said. "This was a phenomenal season. 27 wins in a season is not normal and I'm grateful to these guys for it."
On Saturday, the Patriots trailed by nine (37-28) at the break and by as many as 18 (55-37) in the second half. But GMU used an 11-0 run to move within seven (55-48) and moved as close as three (65-62) with 3:47 left.
But Bradley pushed it back to eight (71-63) with 1:31 left and hung on for the road victory.
Senior
K.D. Johnson led the Patriots with 16 points (4-6 FG, 7-9 FT) and two steals, while senior
Darius Maddox added 15 points (6-13 FG) and five rebounds. With his three 3-pointers in the game, Maddox ends his GMU career 16
th on the all time 3-pointers list (135). He also ends his career as George Mason's all time leader in free throw percentage (.873).
Senior
Zach Anderson chipped in 11 points and five rebounds while senior
Jalen Haynes added 11 points, four rebounds, two assists and two steals.
Bradley earned its scoring advantage by making 13 3-pointers and shooting 44.8 percent from deep.
The game marked the last in the storied college careers of Anderson, A-10 Defensive Player of the Year
Jared Billups, Johnson, Maddox and
Woody Newton. For Billups, Maddox and Newton, the trio combined for 47 wins over their two seasons in Fairfax.
