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George Mason rallied from a 13-point deficit and held one of the nation’s top offenses to just 26 second-half points in a 69-66 victory over Tulane Friday afternoon in the Crescent City.
The Patriots (10-2) trailed by 13 late in the first half and by 11 (40-29) at the break, but locked in on defense in the second stanza and shot 50 percent in the period to pick up the road win over top-100 Tulane (9-3), which was 6-0 at home to start the season.
“My halftime speech was simple,” head coach Tony Skinn said. “Sometimes, you just have to figure things out on your own. I told our guys whoever wants to play hard is who’s going to play. They took that to heart. We came out in the second half, got stops and that gave us our confidence back. We were able to start chipping away at the lead and made winning plays. Resilience is the word.”
Ronald Polite III pushed the Patriots to the win with his best game of the season to date. The Temple Hills, Md., product tallied 13 of his 16 points in the second half to go along with season highs in rebounds (7) and assists (6). Polite III scored Mason’s final seven points, including a go-ahead 3-point play with less than three minutes to go.
“Point guard play is everything,” Skinn said. “When you have a guy who’s been here for four years and who’s been through it, that leadership is so important. He stepped up on both ends of the floor and gave us life defensively.
Mason held the Green Wave to season lows in points (66) and field goal percentage (34.5%). Tulane entered the game first in the nation in field goal percentage (53.6%) and third in scoring (91.7 points/game). The home team made just 7-of-28 attempts (25%) in the second stanza.
Amari Kelly chipped in his fourth double-double of the season with 16 points (5-of-8 FG), 10 rebounds and three blocks, while Virginia Tech transfer Darius Maddox added 15 points (3-of-6 3FG).
Keyshawn Hall registered 10 points and 11 rebounds for his A-10 leading seventh double-double of the season.