Atlantic 10 will see its regular season co-champions battle it out in the tournament final.
Jalen Haynes had 22 points, seven rebounds, and six assists, while Darius Maddox had 19 points in George Mason’s 74-64 win over St. Joseph’s.
Xzayvier Brown’s 26 points led the Hawks.
VCU defeated Loyola (Chi) 62-55 earlier in the day.
George Mason opened the game by scoring the first 14 points.
St. Joseph’s looked hungover from its overtime win over Dayton in last night’s late game.
The Hawks didn’t score until there was 14:27 left in the half, but Mason pushed the lead to 18-2 and later 25-7. The 18-point lead was Mason’s largest of the half.
But once the Hawks increased the ball pressure, Mason’s offense started to sputter.
The Patriots turned the ball over three straight possessions, and the lead was down to 25-11.
The turnovers started piling up. Mason finished with nine turnovers, which led to 13 points for St. Joseph’s in the first half.
The Hawks had several chances to cut the lead to five but squandered them. When Maddox made a layup at the buzzer, Mason went into halftime with a 37-28 lead.
St. Joseph’s came out of the locker room still locked in on defense. The Hawks continued to make it difficult for Mason to score while scoring the first seven points of the half, cutting the deficit to two.
Anthony Finkley’s three-pointer cut Mason’s lead to one at 39-38.
After Woody Newton (GMU) and Brown (St Joe’s) exchanged three-pointers, Mason went on a 5-0 run to push the lead to 47-41.
The Hawks got a three-pointer from Brown that cut it to 53-49, but Mason responded.
Newton matched Brown’s three-pointer with his own. After a defensive stop, Johnson hit a three-pointer, and Mason had increased its lead to 59-49.
The Hawks missed a three-pointer, and Haynes got fouled and made both free throws, extending Mason’s run to 8-0 and the lead to 12.
The run would grow to 12-2, and Mason led 65-51 with 4:27 left.
