George Mason earned a 69-62 win over George Washington Sunday afternoon, propelled by a thrilling closing stretch inside EagleBank Arena.
The Patriots (14-13, 7-7 A-10) trailed 62-56 with 5:21 remaining in the game, but Mason locked in and would not allow another GW point for the rest of the contest. Mason closed the game on a 13-0 run to claim the Revolutionary Rivalry victory over the Colonials (11-16, 7-8 A-10).
One of the nation’s top 3-point shooting teams, Mason made just 5-of-25 (.200) attempts on the night. But after starting 1-of-20 from deep, the Patriots made four of their last five triples while continuing to excel defensively.
Mason held the Colonials to just 33.3 percent (19-57) from the floor, including a paltry 25 percent (8-32) in the second half.
“I’m proud of our guys for their resiliency in a game where we didn’t play well,” head coach Kim English said. “They continued to find ways to get stops defensively and create offense by getting the ball inside and getting to the foul line. I told the guys don’t worry about the results of good shots. Averages and percentages are there for a reason. We just had to continue to play tough, physical defense and take good shots. I told them when one would fall, a lot would follow. That held true.”
Junior Josh Oduro put together a phenomenal all-around game, tallying his fifth double-double of the season with 27 points (11-14 FT) and 13 rebounds. He also dished out two assists and blocked two shots in 37 minutes.
Graduate student D’Shawn Schwartz added 19 points and eight rebounds for the Green & Gold. He scored 14 of those points in the second half and made two of his final three triples on the day.
Sophomore Ronald Polite III got the start at point guard and chipped in eight points, while junior Davonte Gaines added seven points and eight rebounds.
Mason held a cavernous advantage on the glass (+18, 48-30) and tallied a 17-7 edge in second chance points. The Patriots also were +14 (30-16) in paint scoring.
The Colonials led by as many as 10 (46-36) early in the second half, but cut it to two (51-49) with nine minutes left. After GW went back up six (62-56) the Patriots made that key run to close out the victory.
Next up, Mason hits the road for the final time during the regular season. The Patriots will play at first place Davidson on the shores of Lake Norman Wednesday at 7 p.m. The contest will be broadcast on ESPN+.
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