George Mason rally falls short: Patriots lose at Fordham

George Mason cut the score to four points late in the second half, but the rally fell short as Fordham walked away with a 73-62 victory Wednesday evening. The Patriots never led in the contest.

GAME NOTES

-Mandell Thomas hit three triples for Fordham through the second media timeout, allowing the Rams to hold a 19-11 advantage with just under 12 minutes to play.
-Marquise Moore cut the score to six points as the Patriots would come within six three times by the next media timeout before Fordham opened its first double-digit lead on a Antwoine Anderson bucket for a 28-17 lead with 6:08 to play in the first half.
-Fordham held the largest lead of the first half at 12 points, 35-23, following its fifth three-pointer of the period at the 2:31 mark. The Rams held a 37-28 halftime lead.
-Fordham opened its lead to 13 points early in the second half. Trailing by 10 points with 12:02 to play, Mason gained momentum and used a 7-3 run fueled by Marko Gujanicic, who scored all seven points, to cut the score to 52-46 with 9:20 on the clock.
-The Rams answered by building its lead back out to eight points at the free throw line before DeAndre Abram drained a triple at 5:59 to make it a 56-51 ballgame. The two squads traded points before Jaire Grayer sank a three-pointer at 4:58 to pull the Patriots within 60-56.
-Anderson connected from the field to make it a six point contest before Gujanicic brought Mason back to its closest deficit of the second half with a field goal at 2:04 for a 62-58 game.
-Anderson scored eight of Fordham’s final 11 points over the remaining 1:35 of play as Fordham finished strong at the charity stripe to seal the 11-point victory.

STAT BREAKDOWN

-Three Patriots scored in double-figures led by Moore with 18 points, while Gujanicic chipped in a season-best 15 points. Moore and Gujanicic combined for 21 points in the second half. Abram rounded out the trio, finishing with 11 points.
-For the game, Mason shot 37.5 percent (18-48) and won the rebounding battle, 41-27. Four Patriots each pulled down six rebounds.
-Antwoine Anderson led the Rams with 23 points followed by Chris Sengfelder with 16 points. Fordham shot 44.3 percent (27-61) for the game and 80.0 percent (12-15) from the free throw line, all coming in the second half.
-Fordham took advantage of Mason’s 17 turnovers, converting the miscues into 20 points.

NEXT ON THE COURT

-George Mason returns to EagleBank Arena to open a two-game homestand on Saturday, January 23welcoming Duquense at 4 p.m.