George Mason Starters Flex in OT Win Against UMass

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George Mason picked up another conference win on Wednesday evening, beating UMass 80-75 in overtime at Eagle Bank Arena.

FAIRFAX, Va — As far as Atlantic 10 basketball games go, there are only a few times each season where schools with recent Final Four appearances face off against one another. On Wednesday evening, it was one of those instances as UMass (1996 Final Four) traveled south to play George Mason (2006 Final Four) at Eagle Bank Arena.

Like most UMass-George Mason meetings, the game was back and forth throughout. When they play each other, for whatever reason, it always seems to go this way. And like both their regular season meetings last year, it took an extra period to decide a winner.

As soon as the overtime period started, however, it was clear that Mason was dead-set on leaving their home floor with a win. Freshman Jordan Miller set the tone on their first possession in OT, cleaning up a missed shot from Justin Kier to give Mason a 62-61 lead. Not long after that, he’d do the exact same thing to stretch GMU’s lead to 69-63. UMass, of course, went down swinging but Mason hit their free throws late to secure an 80-75 victory.

In total, the Patriots delivered points on every single possession in the final frame, hitting 11 of 12 free throws in the process.

During their win against LaSalle on Sunday, George Mason’s starting five combined for 86 percent of the team’s total output (72 of 84 points). Against UMass, they turned it up a notch to 90 percent, this time combining for 72 of their 80 total points.

All five starters scored in double-figures, led by 21 points from Otis Livingston II (5-9 FG, 11-12 FT) and 17 from Javon Greene (5-6 FG, 5-5 FT). Justin Kier added 14 points of his own while Miller and Jarred Reuter chipped in 10 apiece.

It should be noted that Mason picked up the win largely without the three-point shot. They only attempted eight three-balls on Wednesday night, hitting three of them (Greene, 2; Douglas-Stanley, 1).

With the win, Mason improved to 9-3 in Atlantic 10 play while UMass fell to 2-10. That said, the Minutemen aren’t a joke; they were coming off a 54-51 win against Davidson — the only A-10 team to beat GMU at Eagle Bank Arena this season. Additionally, several of their players are transfers from big-time college programs: Jonathan Laurent was a starter at Rutgers, while Keon Clergeot and Kieran Hayward both played real minutes at Memphis and LSU, respectively.

Mason will travel all the way to St. Bonaventure for their next game on Sunday, February 17th at 2:00 P.M ET. Like their game against LaSalle, the Mason-Bonnies game will air on Stadium.