Fairfax, Va. (December 28, 2024)—Mount St. Mary's fell at George Mason, 64-56, to close out non-conference play on Saturday afternoon at EagleBank Arena.  Dola Adebayo paced the Mountaineers with 13points and seven rebounds.  The Mount falls to 8-5 on the season.

Coming off a 78-74 overtime win at Miami (Fla.) on December 21, the Mount held a 30-28 lead at the half in looking for its second consecutive big road win. George Mason, however, opened the second half with a 22-to-7 run over the first 11 minutes for a 50-37 lead.  The Mount was just 2-for-11 from the field and 0-of-6 from three-point range over that span.

The Mount fought back with a 7-to-2 run that was capped by a Xavier Lipscomb three-pointer to make it 52-44, but four straight George Mason points pushed the advantage back to 12.  The Mount cut it to eight again at 56-48, but the Patriots stretched the lead to as much as 15.  A final Mount push made it a 64-56 final.   

Adebayo led the Mount with 13 points and seven boards while Terrell Ard Jr. finished with 11 points, nine rebounds and four assists.  Jalen Haynes led George Mason with 18 points and 16 rebounds.
One of the top defensive teams in the country, George Mason (9-4) held the Mount to 33.9 percent shooting (21-of-62) in the game, including 26.9 percent (7-of-26) from three-point range.  The Patriots also held a 44-to-33 margin on the boards.

In the first half, after Adebayo evened the score at 2-2, the Patriots went on a 10-0 run to grab a double-digit advantage at the first media timeout.  George Mason opened the game going 5-for-7 from the field with a pair of three-pointers.

The Mount was able to cut the lead in half with a 7-2 spurt, buoyed by an Arlandus Keyes three-pointer, an Abdou Khadre Kebe dunk in transition and a Dallas Hobbs drive to make it 16-11.  An Adebayo free throw made it a four-point game as the Mount held the Patriots off the scoreboard for five minutes.

After George Mason built the lead back to double digits at 24-14, the Mount responded with a 13-0 run to take its first lead of the game.  Hobbs kick-started the run with a three-pointer with an Adebayo dunk making it 24-19.  Hobbs then fed Adebayo for an acrobatic alley-oop dunk with a foul on the play.   Adebayo sank the free throw, and a Jedy Cordilia bucket evened the score at 24-24.  Carmelo Pacheco then drained a three to give the Mount its first lead.  After the Patriots scored the next four points, Javon Ervin drained a three at the first half buzzer to give the Mount a 30-28 advantage at the break.

NOTES

• The Mount holds a 10-8 lead in the all-time series that began in 1973.This was the first meeting between the two teams since the Mount's 78-76 overtime win over the Patriots on November 18, 2016.
• Reigning MAAC Player of the Week Terrell Ard Jr. finished with 11 points, nine rebounds, four assists and two blocks.
• Mount St. Mary's forced George Mason into 16 turnovers in the game, leading to a 24-11 advantage in points off of turnovers in the game.

UP NEXT:  Mount St. Mary's returns to Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference play when Niagara visits Knott Arena on Sunday, January 5.  Tip-off is set for 2:00 p.m.  Click HERE for tickets.