RICHMOND, Va.– The George Mason University men’s basketball team (24-7, 15-3 A-10) earned a share of its first ever A-10 Regular Season Championship on the strength of a 64-60 win at Richmond (10-21, 5-13) on Saturday night inside the Robins Center.
Saturday’s victory earned the Green & Gold a split of the title with VCU. It’s George Mason’s first regular season conference title since 2011.
“This is truly a blessing,” head coach Tony Skinn (’06) said. “I said when I got this job that I was going to work my butt off to get us back to where we belong. It starts with our leadership. Dr. Washington boldly chose to give an opportunity to a guy who had never been a head coach. His faith and support, along with Marvin Lewis, are a big part of how we were able to build this roster. This is what can happen when you approach things the right way. I’m so proud of our team.”
The Patriots trailed by eight at the break (32-24) and as many as nine (37-28) in the second half. But the Green & Gold chipped away at the Spider lead throughout the second half and tied it at 52-52 with 6:02 after a triple from Darius Maddox.
Richmond retook the lead at 58-57 with 3:23 to go, but Maddox scored Mason’s next six points to put GMU up 63-60 with 2:10 left. Richmond would not score for the remainder of the game.
“Our guys showed outstanding togetherness down the stretch,” Skinn said. “Our second half resilience proved that we wanted this game. There were a few possessions that truly showed who we are and what our identity is. Our guys earned this – all the credit goes to them.”
Maddox was electric while scoring 15 of his game-high 18 points in the second half. He made 6-of-10 field goals and 5-of-8 3-pointers on the night.
Jalen Haynes added 11 points and eight rebounds, while Brayden O’Connor chipped in nine points and K.D. Johnson dished out a team-high four assists.
The Green & Gold held Richmond to just 29.6 percent in the second half and enjoyed a +12 (40-28) scoring advantage in the second stanza.
GMU was +9 (36-27) on the glass and held a 16-8 edge in second chance points for the game.
The Patriots finished the regular season with six conference road wins for the first time since 2012-13. GMU has 24 overall wins for just the fourth time in the program’s 59-year history.
Next up, George Mason makes the short trip into the District to begin play in the A-10 Championship. The Patriots have earned the No. 2 overall seed and a double bye in the tournament. George Mason will open play in quarterfinal action on Friday (March 14) at 5 p.m. inside Capital One Arena. The game will be televised nationally on USA Network.
