Men’s basketball (13-5, 2-3 Atlantic 10) lost to George Mason (14-5, 5-1 A-10) in double overtime 80-77 Saturday afternoon at the EagleBank Arena.
The Revolutionaries led for most of the first half and had a chance to win in regulation, but they couldn’t overcome their local rival, who now leads the A-10 outright. Mason controlled both overtime periods after junior forward Rafael Castro missed a pair of potentially game-winning free throws at the end of regulation.
Redshirt freshman guard Christian Jones led the Revs in scoring with 16 points, and sophomore guard Trey Autry put up 15. Castro notched a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds. Sophomore forward Darren Buchanan Jr. scored the only bench points for the Revs, knotting 15 in the contest.
Despite a balanced scoring attack with five double-digit scorers, the Revs’ defense could not stop George Mason forward Jalen Haynes. He had 17 points in the contest before fouling out toward the end of regulation. Senior guard Darrius Maddox also had 17 for the Patriots.
“That was a phenomenal college basketball game,” George Mason Head Coach Tony Skinn said postgame.
The Patriots started hot, taking a 19-9 lead with 11:57 left in the first half. After a slow start, the Revolutionaries recaptured the lead at 23-21, sparked by a 14-2 run with 10:11 to go in the half. The Revs held the lead for the rest of the half, finishing up 6 at 35-29.
The Patriots shot 9-16 from the free-throw line in the first half, missing their last four. Overall, both teams shot under 65 percent from the free-throw line.
The Revs extended their lead to 10 points off a layup from Autry. However, George Mason bounced back, tying the game up on a 9-0 run that fired up the crowd with 7:35 to go.
With 4:30 left, the referees assessed technical fouls on Haynes and graduate student forward Sean Hansen.
All tied up at 60, Castro and senior guard K.D. Johnson each went one of two from the stripe in consecutive trips down the floor. With the game tied up at 61, Castro was fouled with 1.9 seconds left in the second half but missed both free throws, sending the game to overtime.
Castro bounced back, sinking two free throws in the first overtime period to tie the game up at 69 with four seconds left, keeping the Revs alive and sending the game to a second overtime.
Graduate student guard Gerald Drumgoole Jr. fouled out of the game with 1:43 left in 2OT. Castro fouled out less than a minute after tying the game up at 72. George Mason immediately went on a spurt, finished with a slam from junior forward Giovanni Emejuru, which put them up four, 78-74.
Jones sank a three to bring the Revs within one with 40 seconds to go. The Revs defense stopped the Patriots with 12 seconds to go, but they couldn’t capitalize despite a good look at the rim for Hansen off an offensive rebound.
Still down 78-77 with two seconds left, the Revs followed senior guard Jared Billups, who sank both free throws, extending Mason’s lead to 3. On the game’s final possession, the Revs turned the ball over on the inbound pass, dropping their second conference game in a row.
Next up, the Revolutionaries will travel to Massachusetts on Tuesday night.