George Mason erased a 12-point first half deficit but could not complete the comeback Saturday afternoon, dropping an 83-78 contest at La Salle inside the Trimark Financial Center.
Mason led by five (68-63) with 9:32 to play, but the Patriots were unable to score for the next 5+ minutes as La Salle was able to re-take the lead with an 11-1 spurt and go up 74-69 with under five minutes to play. Mason cut it to one (76-75) 1:14 left but could not score on its next two possessions;
The Explorers shot a season-best 50 percent (14-28) from 3-point range to bolster their efforts and 53.8 percent overall (28-52) for the game.
Mason (11-9, 4-3) exploded for an impressive 15-of-27 effort from deep (15-26) on the offensive end, but missing the A-10’s leading scorer Josh Oduro due to concussion protocol, the Green & Gold could not match that efficiency with their normal interior aplomb. Mason made 13 of 33 attempts (.394) from inside the arc.
Three Patriots scored at least 16 points in the game. Graduate student D’Shawn Schwartz led Mason with 17 points (4-6 3pt FG) and dished out three assists, while junior Xavier Johnson notched a season-best 16 points (5-10 FG, 2-3 3pt FG) to go along with eight assists in 36 minutes.
Graduate student DeVon Cooper continued his torrid shooting of late while making 4-of-5 3-point attempts and finishing with 16 points. He’s shooting 54.8 percent (17-31) from deep over the past four games.
Junior Davonte Gaines nearly tallied another double-double with 10 points and nine rebounds and graduate student walk-on Blake Buchanan provided a huge lift off the bench en route to his first two career field goals. The Durham, N.C., product made 2-of-3 3-point attempts and finished with six points in 13 minutes for Mason.
The Patriots hit five of their first seven 3-pointers to build an early 15-11 advantage. An 18-5 run pushed the Explorers ahead by nine (29-20) and La Salle went up 12 (39-27) with 3:15 to go in the opening stanza. Malik Henry scored the final two baskets of the half for the Patriots to push Mason within seven (43-36) at the break.
La Salle grabbed a 48-41 lead early in the second half, but the Patriots powered back to cut it to one (53-52) after a 3-pointer from Schwartz. A 6-0 run from the Green & Gold gave the Patriots a 61-56 advantage and Mason led by that margin (68-63) with 9:32 to play. From there, La Salle took advantage of a Mason scoring drought of more than five minutes, using an 11-1 spurt to go up five (74-69) with 4:41 to go.
Mason cut it to one at 76-75, but the Patriots could not score on the next two possessions as La Salle hung on to grab the win.
Mason remains on the road for the first of back-to-back contests vs. Richmond. The Patriots will battle the Spiders on Monday (Feb. 7) at 7 p.m. inside the Robins Center. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+. Mason will then host Richmond on Wednesday (Feb. 9) in a game televised nationally on CBS Sports Network.
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