FAIRFAX, Va. - Despite a career night from graduate student
Jahari Long, the George Mason University men's basketball team (23-10) could not complete an epic comeback Tuesday, falling 77-71 to Liberty (26-7) in the NIT First Round.
Long poured in a personal-best 27 points, helping the Patriots erase a 15-point deficit and nearly complete an epic comeback.
George Mason finishes the season with 23 wins, tied for the fifth-most in school history. The Patriots also qualified for their second-straight NIT, marking the first time the Green & Gold have made back-to-back postseason appearances since 2007-09.
"Liberty's a really good program with a very good coach," head coach
Tony Skinn ('06) said. "I thought our guys fought hard in the second half, but in the postseason, you can't get down 15 points. I wanted this win to get one more for our seniors in EBA, but it didn't go our way."
GMU trailed 32-17 with 4:47 to play in the first half, but used an 18-7 run in the second half to tie it up at 65-65. The teams were knotted at 67-67 with 1:18 to go, but Liberty scored the next two buckets and hung on from there.
Long scored 20 of his personal-best 27 in the second half and finished with a 9-of-17 shooting night. He also dished out four assists and finished the year with 131, good for 17
th most in George Mason single-season history.
Second Team NABC All-District pick
Kory Mincy added 16 points and nine rebounds, and his second half 3-pointer moved him into a tie for 10
th most in GMU single season annals (68).
Freshman
Emmanuel Kanga added his second double-double in the past three games (12 pts, 10 reb), while
Riley Allenspach chipped in nine points.
"I've got aspirations for George Mason," Skinn added. "We're going to continue to build our standard. We've set the bar pretty high. I think everyone understands what the expectations are. We're going to take the high road this offseason. The guys who are going to be a part of this family are going to get better and we're going to try to get better in the market as well."
