 |
| [ PHOTO: UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS ATHLETICS ] |
Peter Solari, Editor in Chief Follow @4PeteSakeNY
The George Mason men's basketball team used a late run to outlast the University of Massachusetts 68-63 in Amherst Wednesday night. At 4-1, Mason is off to their best league-start since joining the Atlantic 10 six years ago. The Patriots are now 10-8 overall on season.
Junior Justin Kier again led the way for the Patriots, scoring 22 points to go along with his 9 rebounds. Sophomore Javon Greene added a career-high 19 points and 7 rebounds, while senior Otis Livingston chipped in 12 points and dished out 4 assists.
Here's more from George Mason University Athletics:
UMass was led by Rashaan Holloway and Carl Pierre, who scored 11 points apiece. Holloway also pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds.
Despite a tough night from 3-point range, shooting just 4-for-18 (22%), Mason turned in another strong defensive effort, limiting the Minutemen to 36% shooting on 24-of-66 and 9-of-32 (28%) from deep. For the game, Mason shot 43% (22-of-51) from the field.
"I told our team in the locker room that this was our best A-10 victory this season," coach Dave Paulsen said. "UMass is a good basketball team and really made us work. It wasn't always pretty but we showed poise and only had 10 turnovers against some extreme defense. To not shoot well like we did at Rhode Island and still come out with the win is key for our program."
The Patriots also made the most of their opportunities from the charity stripe, going 22-of-22 (90%) on free throws. Over the past two contests, Mason is shooting 92% (37-of-40) from the free throw line.
Next up, Mason returns to Fairfax to do battle with Fordham this Saturday, January 19th at EagleBank Arena. Tip-off is set for 7 PM. The game will be available on ESPN+.
The George Mason men's basketball team used a late run to outlast the University of Massachusetts 68-63 in Amherst Wednesday night. At 4-1, Mason is off to their best league-start since joining the Atlantic 10 six years ago. The Patriots are now 10-8 overall on season.
Elsewhere ... George Mason completed the New England sweep and upended Massachusetts 68-63. I suspect the Patriots would have been ecstatic with 4-1 in the A-10 a few weeks back given the perceived degree of difficulty with the early portion of the league schedule.— Patrick Stevens (@D1scourse) January 17, 2019
Junior Justin Kier again led the way for the Patriots, scoring 22 points to go along with his 9 rebounds. Sophomore Javon Greene added a career-high 19 points and 7 rebounds, while senior Otis Livingston chipped in 12 points and dished out 4 assists.
Here's more from George Mason University Athletics:
Mason held UMass to 1-of-8 shooting to start and jumped out to a 5-0 lead, but the Minutemen responded with an 11-0 spurt to take an 11-7 lead at the 12-minute mark of the opening half. UMass led by three at 18-15, but Mason responded with a 6-0 run to build a 21-18 lead with five minutes to play in the stanza. From there, the Patriots could convert just one made field goal over the final minutes of the half, but the defense held strong as Mason took a 23-21 lead into the break. The Patriots shot just 34.5 percent, but limited the Minutemen to 27.6 percent and a 1-of-11 mark from 3-point range. Both teams rocketed out of the gate in the second half, with UMass making four of its first five attempts, while Mason was 3-of-3 (3-4 FT). The Patriots extended their lead to six at 36-30 through the second half's first four minutes and led 40-33 after free throws from Kier at the 13:34 mark. UMass raced back with an 8-0 run to take a 41-40 lead and extended the edge to four (54-50) with 6:40 left in the ballgame. From there, the Patriots mounted their comeback. Although they would not score for the next 1:40, Mason also denied the Minutemen throughout the stretch. Then, Greene nailed a tough 3-pointer at the 5-minute mark and Livingston II hit a pair of free throws to surge the Green & Gold back in front, 55-54, at the 4:33 mark. Mason would never trail again. Kier scored four straight points, then Livingston II nailed a tough jumper to put the Patriots up 63-56 with 2:32 left. UMass cut it to three (63-60) with 57 seconds to play, but Kier came up huge again, converting a jumper in the paint to make it 65-60. Greene added a free throw with 18 seconds left to make it 66-60, and the Patriots hung on from there.
UMass was led by Rashaan Holloway and Carl Pierre, who scored 11 points apiece. Holloway also pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds.
Despite a tough night from 3-point range, shooting just 4-for-18 (22%), Mason turned in another strong defensive effort, limiting the Minutemen to 36% shooting on 24-of-66 and 9-of-32 (28%) from deep. For the game, Mason shot 43% (22-of-51) from the field.
"I told our team in the locker room that this was our best A-10 victory this season," coach Dave Paulsen said. "UMass is a good basketball team and really made us work. It wasn't always pretty but we showed poise and only had 10 turnovers against some extreme defense. To not shoot well like we did at Rhode Island and still come out with the win is key for our program."
The Patriots also made the most of their opportunities from the charity stripe, going 22-of-22 (90%) on free throws. Over the past two contests, Mason is shooting 92% (37-of-40) from the free throw line.
You talk about doing the little things, George Mason has missed a total of 3 free throws in the last two games. It didn't mean much outcome-wise the other day, but was probably the deciding factor tonight— Joe Campione (@jcamp459) January 17, 2019
Next up, Mason returns to Fairfax to do battle with Fordham this Saturday, January 19th at EagleBank Arena. Tip-off is set for 7 PM. The game will be available on ESPN+.
