George Mason falters late, falls in close contest at Fordham, 50-47

George Mason dropped a 50-47 contest at Fordham on Sunday afternoon inside Rose Hill Gymnasium.

Mason led 45-41 with 7:31 to play, but the Patriots could convert only one field goal for the remainder of the contest, as Fordham closed the game on a 9-2 run to claim victory.

The Patriots shot under 37 percent (18-51, .353) for just the third time this season and made 7-of-28 attempts (.250) from the floor.

Fordham gained its significant advantage on the glass, where the Rams turned a +2 (36-34) rebounding edge into an 8-0 advantage in second chance points.

Junior point guard Xavier Johnson led the Patriots with career bests in points (19) and 3-pointers made (5) while also grabbing three steals in 37 minutes.

Junior Josh Oduro added nine points, nine rebounds and a game-high four blocks, while graduate student guard DeVon Cooper dished out a team-best four assists. His 3-pointer in the first half marked the 200th triple of Cooper’s career.

Mason scored the first five points of the game and led 11-9, 10 minutes in after the triple from Cooper. Fordham took the lead by four at 17-13, but a 13-2 run by the Patriots gave Mason a 26-19 advantage with 1:38 to go in the stanza. The Rams scored the final five points of the half to cut the lead to two (26-24) at the break.

Fordham extended the run to 12-0 early in the second half and built a 31-26 edge. With Fordham up 38-31, the Patriots used a 10-0 spurt of their own, capped by an Oduro slammer, to go up 43-38 with 9:26 remaining.

Mason led by four at 45-41 and a runner from Cooper kept Mason ahead by three (47-44) with 4:52 to go. After a two minute and 30 second scoring drought from both teams, Fordham took the lead (49-47) on a Kyle Rose 3-pointer with 52 seconds remaining.

Fordham missed two front ends on the one and one, but Mason turned it over on three-straight possessions on the other end with a chance to take the lead. On the Patriots’ final possession, Fordham was looking to foul with a 3-point lead (50-47). Jamal Hartwell II got off a clean look for Mason, but it rimmed out and the Rams held on for the win.

Next up, Mason wraps a three-game road swing Wednesday with a 7 p.m. contest at VCU. The game will be televised regionally on MASN2 and broadcast nationally on ESPN+.