NEW YORK – The George Mason University men's basketball team (15-1, 3-0) put together another second half surge to continue the best start in program history, knocking off Fordham (9-7, 0-3) by the score of 67-58 on Wednesday night inside Rose Hill Gymnasium.
The Rams took a 28-23 lead into the half, but the Patriots shot a blistering 60 percent in the second half and held Fordham to 30.6 percent in the period to comeback for the win. GMU held a +14 (44-30) scoring advantage in the second stanza.
With the victory, GMU is now 15-1 for the first time in school history and 3-0 in A-10 play for the first time program annals.
Riley Allenspach scored 17 of his game-high 18 points in the second half and went 8-of-14 from the floor in 25 minutes.
Fatt Hill added 11 points and made a critical 9-of-10 attempts from the free throw line, while
Kory Mincy chipped in 10 points and five rebounds.
Jahari Long dished out a team-best seven assists, committed 0 turnovers and added six points in 23 minutes.
GMU held the Rams to 34.3 percent for the game and 26.1 percent from beyond the arc. Despite making just 1-of-11 3-point attempts, the Patriots went 22-of-37 from 2pt range against the Rams stout interior defense and made 20-of-26 free throw attempts (.769).
GMU was +14 (40-26) in points in the paint and +15 (27-12) in bench scoring for the contest.
The game proved to be an early offensive struggle, as a combined 8-for-27 start led to an 8-8 tie at the 11:13 mark of the opening half. A 10-0 run by Fordham pushed the Rams in front by nine (20-11), but GMU rallied back with a 6-0 spurt to cut it to two (25-23). A banked in 3-pointer by Fordham in the final minute of the half extended the Ram lead at the break to five (28-23).
With Fordham ahead 33-27 early in the second half, the Patriots began to feed the ball inside with great success. The gameplan led to a 16-4 run over the next six minutes to push GMU in front by six (43-37) with 10:44 remaining.
The Rams moved back within four at 46-42, but that's as close as the Rams would get, as the Patriots built the lead to as many as 12 late in the second half.
Next up, George Mason returns home for a marquee matchup against in-state foe VCU. Tip-off between the Patriots and Rams on Saturday (Jan. 10) is set for 12 p.m. The game will be televised nationally on ESPNU.
