9:05 p.m. One last note: Opoku immediately ran over to the student section for high fives after the alma mater, with Hollis, Ware, Taylor, Katuka and others I probably couldn’t see soon joining him.

9:02 p.m. That’s all she wrote. GW wins 66-49 and now seizes military control of the Orange Line. Or something. Check out tomorrow’s Hatchet in print and online at www.gwhatchet.com for full coverage.

9:01 p.m. Hollis dunks it to 66-47 with 1:15 on the clock and everyone’s jingling their keys.

9:00 p.m. Kromah drives and lays it in to put GW up 64-47 with two minutes to go. Seems like they’re just playing this one out at this point.

8:56 p.m. Hollis spins through the lane and pulls up for a short jumper to make it a 62-43 GW lead. There’s now 3:56 to play and the Colonial Brass is playing “Final Countdown,” sans cellos.

8:54 p.m. More buffness: women’s basketball head coach Mike Bozeman, Associate Vice President for Creative Management Deborah Snelgrove and Executive Director of Sports Marketing Nicole Macchione Early all appear to be wearing buff as well. That was a lot of capitalization. At the 5:05 mark, GW leads 60-41.

8:48 p.m. The Patriots reel off seven straight points to make it a 60-41 GW lead with 6:42 left in the game.

8:43 p.m. Hollis knocks down a closely contested three to make it 60-34 with 8:55 left. Katuka fouls out and George Mason fans are taunting him as he walks to the bench. Their team is losing by 26 points, which the Colonial Army is quick to remind them with a “scoreboard” chant, complete with directional finger-pointing.

8:38 p.m. Kromah pokes a ball loose that Hollis picks up and squeaks through the defense to find Johnson for a dunk and then Kromah gets a steal and breaks away for a dunk of his own. George Mason calls another timeout and GW leads 57-31 with 10:32 to go.

8:33 p.m. After the Colonial Brass plays the fight song for the ninth time this evening, a George Mason fan behind me asks/shouts, “Do you only know one song?” The Colonial Army then informs the Patriots’ fans that they cannot be heard via chant. Johnson also hit a jumper somewhere in there. It’s 53-31 GW with 11:59 on the clock.

8:32 p.m. Interesting song choice during a timeout: Jay-Z’s “Run This Town.”

8:29 p.m. Pretty interesting foul on Hollis just now, who kept his arms at his sides while jumping to contest a Rashad Whack breakaway layup but apparently bumped into him nonetheless. Whack missed the first but hits the second, after which Katuka slammed down a dunk on the other end to make it 51-29 GW with 13 minutes left. GW fans were chanting “Why so quiet?” at Mason fans a few moments ago.

8:27 p.m. Katuka lays it in and GW leads 49-28, prompting Larranaga to call timeout with 14:08 on the clock. After giving up the half’s first point on a free throw, the Colonials have scored 14 unanswered.

8:26 p.m. George Mason now has six team fouls this half compared to GW’s one, a role reversal from the first half of play. Bynes knocked down a jumper and it’s 47-28 Colonials with 14:45 left.

8:24 p.m. Hollis knocks down both, giving him 18 points and GW a 45-28 lead.

8:23 p.m. Senior Kyle Boyer wins his second straight Pita Pit Dance Contest, which may or may not be some sort of record. GW still leads 43-28 at the 15:34 mark, having begun the second half on an 8-1 run. Hollis will shoot two free throws after the break.

8:18 p.m. George Mason calls a timeout after Hollis crosses his dribble and pulls up to knock down a jumper that gives GW a 43-28 lead with 16:35 to go.

During the timeout, senior cross country runner Megan Hogan is being commemorated for achieving All-America status last week. The Colonial Army is chanting “Megan.”

8:15 p.m. Katuka-fest continues as he picks up a block and then scores on a nice inside lob from Ware. Taylor adds a layup off a backcourt steal  and it’s 40-28 GW with 17:50 left.

8:12 p.m. Katuka stays in the game despite the foul trouble and is fouled while shooting. He misses the first free throw but makes the second and it’s 36-28 GW with 19:11 to play.

8:10 p.m. Nine seconds into the second half, Katuka picks up his third personal foul and sends Morrison to the line for Mason, who hits one of two.

7:57 p.m. The Colonials are in the locker room with a 35-27 lead over the Patriots after Hollis turned in easily his best half of basketball this season, scoring 14 points on six-of-nine shooting and grabbing four rebounds. He has appeared more aggressive than he has in past games, rarely appearing to hesitate and seeming to look for ways to take shots. GW is shooting 50 percent for the game and hanging even in the rebound (21-19 GW) and turnover (eight forced, nine coughed up) departments.

The Colonials have been a strong outside shooting team this season, but have only scored six points from beyond the arc, which could be an encouraging sign since they have been able to put points on the board through other means. Three players – Taylor, Kromah and Bynes – are tied for second on the team with four points apiece and Edwards and Opoku are tied with Hollis for the team rebounding lead with four each. Kromah, the team’s leading scorer entering the game with 14 points per game, has missed all three of his three-point attempts.

The energy in the arena is as strong or stronger than its been in a long time, so if the game continues to be as tightly contested as it has been throughout the first half, the Smith Center should be an exciting place to be this Wednesday evening.

7:53 p.m. Opoku is called for a shooting foul with 3.4 seconds left in the first half, sending Hancock to the line where he makes the first of two shots. GW leads 35-27 at the half.

7:51 p.m. Bynes sends Hancock to the line with his second personal foul and Hancock hits both to make it 33-24 GW with 1:13 to go before halftime.

7:48 p.m. Mason’s Kevin Foster knocks down one of two free throws.

7:46 p.m. Bynes is called for a non-shooting foul while defending the ball and Hobbs is livid heading into an official timeout. The Patriots will get two shots after a break in the action at the 2:39 mark. GW has 10 team fouls; George Mason has four.

Also, if King could be a superhero, he would be Batman. There have been some great Tonic trivia questions this year.

7:44 p.m. Hey, remember that slow start from Hollis? He just knocked down a jumper and a three to give GW a 31-21 lead inside the first half’s final three minutes. He’s got 12 points already.

7:41 p.m. Mason’s Isaiah Tate knocks down a three and GW’s lead is now 26-19 with 4:46 to play in the first half.

7:40 p.m. Kromah knocks down a jumper after dribbling once and taking a step inside the three-point arc and then Johnson is called for a foul on the other end, but the front end of the one-and-one is missed. GW leads 26-16 with 5:36 left in the half.

7:35 p.m. There’s an official timeout after less than a minute of play, during which freshman David Pellom found redshirt sophomore Jabari Edwards with a somewhat late pass in transition that Edwards put up and in for two. GW leads 24-16 with 7:01 left in the first half.

7:31 p.m. Freshman Bryan Bynes and Kromah throw down back-to-back dunks in transition to give the Colonials a 22-16 lead at the 7:53 mark. The student section is going crazy as Hollis waves a towel in the air to encourage them during a timeout.

7:30 p.m. Mason fans respond to “safety school” chants with “overpriced.”

7:29 p.m. Hancock knocks down a three to cut GW’s lead to 18-16 with 9:34 to go before halftime.

7:28 p.m. I should note that Hobbs is wearing a buff shirt.

7:26 p.m. Ware is called for his second foul – GW’s seventh of the first half – and Mason’s Luke Hancock heads to the line, where he makes one of two shots. George Mason has been called for two fouls.

7:22 p.m. The Patriots begin mounting a bit of a comeback, but Hollis answers with a nice turnaround bank shot from the wing to make it a 16-10 GW lead at the 11:27 mark.

7:18 p.m. I’ve received word from Web Director Andrew Nacin that they are now turning away students from the game. I can see why: the place is absolutely packed.

7:17 p.m. Kromah slips and falls on the perimeter but impressively maintains control of the ball to extend a GW possession that ultimately results in a three-pointer from redshirt junior Travis King. Freshman Tim Johnson adds a layup in transition and it’s 14-5 GW with 13:44 left in the first half. Fans are chanting “this is our house.”

7:13 p.m. Hollis scores four straight GW points, including a long two-pointer with his foot on the three-point line, and GW leads 9-5 with 15 minutes left in the first half.

7:11 p.m. Opoku immediately grabs a defensive rebound and then scores on a put-back off a Hollis miss. George Mason responds with a dunk from Mike Morrison and then Ware is whistled for a charge. This place is deafening in response to every play. GW leads 5-2 at the 17:30 mark.

7:10 p.m. GW takes a 3-0 lead after Taylor knocks down a mid-range jumper, but Katuka is whistled for his second personal foul on the other end and heads to the bench. Senior Hermann Opoku replaces him.

7:08 p.m. Katuka with a big block from behind at the 19:09 mark. Still 1-0.

7:06 p.m. Hollis is fouled going to the bucket on the first possession. He makes the first and misses the second and Katuka is called for a foul going for the rebound.

6:58 p.m. The coaches take the floor and Mason supporters chant Patriots head coach Jim Larranaga’s name over GW head coach Karl Hobbs’s usual entrance music. A “let’s go G-Dub” chant then takes over before the cheer and dance teams take the floor to the GW fight song. Manufactured or not, this is a rivalry atmosphere.

6:57 p.m. George Mason fans just broke out in a “Let’s go Mason” chant as their team took the floor, to which GW fans responded with boos and the Colonial Brass with “Welcome to D.C.” There was also a brief “safety school” chant.

6:53 p.m. University President Steven Knapp gave the team a pep talk in the locker room before the game. We’ve got a photo above and another below from Photo Editor Viktors Dindzans.

6:50 p.m. Your starting Colonials: sophomore guard Tony Taylor, freshman guard Lasan Kromah, sophomore guard/forward Aaron Ware, senior forward Damian Hollis and junior center Joseph Katuka.

6:48 p.m. Wow. I went downstairs to grab some game notes and I come back to see the student section on its way to filling up, with students already seated in the back rows of the upper section. There’s still a steady stream on its way in.

–

The night is finally here. After an extensive marketing campaign that created plenty of buzz, the GW men’s basketball team will square off against George Mason tonight for the first time in 11 years. GW has dubbed the game “The Battle of the Orange Line” as a play on the Metro line connecting the two schools (sort of) and students seem to have responded well, with plenty of chatter and tweets and Facebook statuses being devoted to tonight’s game. It’s also being billed as a “Buff Out” in which fans are encouraged to wear whatever buff clothing they may have at their disposal. Fitting with the theme, the Colonials are wearing their buff uniforms.

There are reportedly only about 200 tickets left, likely a result of the Patriots bringing plenty of their own to the arena as well. The game is also being broadcast on local TV, though obviously this live blog will be far more entertaining.

As far as the basketball goes, George Mason may be without two starters – forward Ryan Pearson and guard Andre Cornelius – who reportedly are being disciplined for an alleged hotel pillow heist. As pointed out in that blog post, they are not listed as probable starters in the game notes, but they are still listed among the reserves. Pearson is third on the team in scoring (9.8 points per game) and in a three-way tie for second in rebounds (5.7 per game) while Cornelius averages 9.7 points per game and has made 11 of 22 three-pointers this season.

The Patriots are 3-3 coming into tonight’s game, having lost to No. 3/3 Villanova (AP, ESPN/USA Today) and No. 23 Georgia Tech (ESPN/USA Today) in Puerto Rico and at Tulane. They’ve beaten Liberty and Dartmouth at home and Indiana in Puerto Rico.

There is still more than half an hour until the opening tip, but the Colonial Army section is already full (and brandishing foam hats and hatchets) and more students are filling in the second section of seating as well. We’ll be back with starting lineups as soon as they’re available and more updates before and throughout the game.