George Mason followed last night’s tough two point win with a 77-67 loss to Belmont. They were without AJ Wilson. Wilson was out with an ankle injury.
The Patriots were put in a tough position coming into today’s game. Their previous game was supposed to start at 2 pm yesterday but it was moved to 8 pm. After a battle with Queens, they had to come back at 2 pm to play the always tough Belmont.
George Mason got off to a fast start behind Josh Oduro’s strong play. The Patriots would push the lead to 14 points. “I think for 13 minutes we showed and played some outstanding basketball defensively, offensively, ball moved,” said head coach Dave Paulsen.
Belmont would respond with a 16-0 run and would lead by one at halftime. “We went up 34-20. We told our guys. The had energy, emotion, and excitement and that’s great but you still have to play discipline basketball.”
Discipline and sloppy play was an issue today. Mason had only four turnovers in the first half but ended with 15 for the game.
In the second half, Mason’s offense would start to falter as they went from shooting 59.4% in the first half to only shooting 32.1% in the second half.
Belmont took full advantage as they spent most of the second half being able to start their offense and get into transition off missed shots. After shooting 50% in the first half, the Bruins followed it up by shooting 52.8% in the second. “I’m disappointed with our defense… really disappointed,” said Paulsen
George Mason will face Howard tomorrow at 3 pm.
