The George Mason men’s basketball team dropped a hard-fought 79-67 decision to No. 17 Iowa State to open the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic on Sunday in the Stan Sheriff Center. Patrick Holloway led the Patriots with a career-high 19 points.
Holloway used five treys to finish with 19 points as Bryon Allen contributed 14 to the scoreboard in the contest. Holloway led Mason with 10 points in the first half as the Patriots kept Iowa State close through the first 20 minutes as the teams worked through nine lead changes and six tied scores. Late in the half, Johnny Williams gave Mason a 25-24 lead with a jumper at 5:41, but DeAndre Kane answered tying it up for the fifth time hitting the front end of a pair of free throws which sparked a 10-4 Cyclone run to close the period at 34-29.
Mason came as close as five points in the second half when Anali Okoloji and Allen hit back-to-back jumpers to bring the score to 56-51 with 6:18 to play. It would be the closest the Patriots would come as the Cyclones regained a double-digit lead and held Mason at bay for the final 79-67 score. ISU scored 13 points off 10 Mason turnovers in the second half and 22 points in the paint.
Iowa State finished with 40 points in the paint as Mason’s bench outscored the Cyclones 39-8 in the contest. Four Cyclones finished in double-figures led by Georges Niang with 22 points, 17 coming in the second half.
Mason will meet either Oregon State or Akron at 2:30 p.m. ET/9:30 a.m. HT on Monday, December 23. The game will be televised on ESPNU.
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Chris Graham
