George Mason Prevails in a Defensive Battle Against Rival George Washington

By: Ethan Hennessy

Washington D.C.

George Mason entered Wednesday night’s game in first place in the Atlantic Ten standings halfway through the season. At 8-1 (17-5) overall, the Patriots are in the middle of a stretch that has them away from Fairfax for three out of four games. The Patriots faced a tough test at George Washington in the Revolutionary Rivalry. When the two teams met previously in the season in Northern Virginia the game went to double overtime with George Mason pulling out a 80-77 victory. The Revolutionaries sported an 11-1 home record this season entering the game. Their resume includes wins over RV Dayton (at the time) and third-place Saint Louis.

The game was slow going offensively early on with both teams shooting under 30% from the field through the first three media timeouts. The shooting woes continued as both teams struggled mightily to score the ball. George Washington in particular, could not buy a bucket. By the time halftime came neither team reach the 20 point plateau. George Mason led 19-13, and both teams combined to shoot 14-53 from the field.

In the second half the basket opened up a little bit for Gorge Mason. The Patriots extended the lead to 13. The Revolutionaries battled back cutting it to four off a Christian Jones layup at the 5:58 mark. The crowd at the Charles E Smith Center roared to life.

George Washington took their first lead of the game with 3:04 remaining on a Jones layup. Confusion ensued after George Washington seemingly committed a backcourt violation, but the call was reversed. The next sequence saw George Washington committing an actual backcourt violation.

Both teams traded the lead in the final two minutes. George Washington had the ball down two in the final seconds when Christian Jones turned it over. George Mason hit one of two free throws and a Gerald Drumgoogle three-pointer to tie at the buzzer came up short.

George Mason won by a final score of 53-50. The Patriots will play host to Rhode Island next while George Washington travels to Saint Bonaventure for a Sunday afternoon game.