November 22, 2017
Peter Solari
Freshman Goenar Mar continued his hot streak Tuesday, dropping 17 points and grabbing eight rebounds in George Mason's opening game of the 2017 Cancun Challenge against Louisiana Tech in Mexico.
Otis Livingston II added 15 points, and Jaire Grayer chipped in 14 of his own, but it wasn't nearly enough to neutralize the red-hot Bulldogs, who pulled away for a 77-64 victory over the Patriots. Here's more from
GoMason.com:
The Patriots out-rebounded their opponent for the third-straight game
while holding a 38-35 edge on the glass. Mason also was +6 (24-18) in
points in the paint for the game. The Green & Gold held Louisiana
Tech to 38.7 percent in the second half and shot 47 percent over the
final 12 minutes.
The Bulldogs jumped out to an 11-5 advantage and increased the lead to
10 (22-12) at the 8:13 mark of the half. Mason cut the lead to six
(25-19) with 6:12 to play in the period, but the Bulldogs responded with
a 10-0 spurt to build a 16-point edge (35-19) with 3:54 left. The
Louisiana Tech advantage increased to 19 (40-21) at the 1:45 mark and
the Bulldogs took a 42-24 lead into the break.
Mason was held without a field goal for the final 6:53 of the half. The
Patriots made 13 free throws in the period but just 5-of-24 field goals
(.208). LA Tech was 15-of-26 (.577) from the floor and 8-of-14 from
3-point range (.571).
Back-to-back 3-pointers by the Bulldogs pushed the lead to 26 (52-26)
three minutes into the second half, but the Patriots would not go
quietly. Mason exploded back into the game with an 11-0 run that cut the
Louisiana Tech lead to 15 (52-37) with 12:38 to play.
The Bulldogs went back up 20 (63-43) at the 8-minute mark, but Mason
used another spurt – this time 11-2 – to cut the edge to 11 (69-58) with
2:53 to play. On the ensuing Patriot possession, a 3-pointer from Ian Boyd went halfway down and then out – a basket that would've moved Mason within eight.
Louisiana Tech is led by head coach Eric Konkol, who spent seven seasons in Fairfax as an assistant under then-head coach Jim Larranaga. Konkol is currently assisted by Tony Skinn, who starred for three seasons at Mason, and was a key member of the 2005-06 Final Four team. Skinn also represented Nigeria in the 2012 Olympics in London, where the speedy guard famously crossed up Houston Rocket James Harden, and sent him into a full banana split, before sinking a 3-pointer. Take a look:
Mason will conclude their trip to Cancun on Wednesday night, when they tip-off against Fresno State at 6 PM. The game will be broadcast on
CBS Sports Network.
Now here are the rest of Tuesday's results from around the Atlantic 10. Scores and graphics are from
Yahoo! Sports, with recaps courtesy of
ESPN.
