(Mitchell Richtmyre / Fourth Estate)
Patriots fall to GW, lose consecutive games for first time this season
BY BRIAN A. HAYUM, SPORTS EDITOR
Mason men’s basketball (21-5, 9-4 Atlantic 10) lost its second straight game on Feb. 13, falling to the GW Revolutionaries 72-53 in Washington, D.C.
It was GW senior forward Luke Hunger’s night. The transfer from Northwestern stepped in for star player Rafael Castro, who was out due to a foot injury, and led the way with a career-high 31 points. The loss snaps a five-game winning streak against the Revs. It is also the Patriots’ second straight double-digit loss.
“Tough night, tough two-game stretch for George Mason Basketball,” said Head Coach Tony Skinn after the loss. “[GW] came out with the intensity level that we just didn’t seem to have or match.”
Senior guard Masai Troutman and graduate guard Jahari Long were the only two Patriots to score in double figures, as the rest of the team shot 11-33 from the field.
Mason’s leading scorer, junior guard Kory Mincy, continued to struggle on the offensive end, logging 5 points in 29 minutes. Since injuring the thumb on his shooting hand in the home loss to Duquesne, Mincy is averaging 4.6 ppg on 25% shooting from the field and is 2-13 from three.
For GW, Hunger caught fire early on by hitting his first five shots, including 3 from beyond the 3-point line.
“Him getting going from 3 early kinda shocked us,” Long said.
The Patriots would respond, taking the lead with a layup from senior guard Fatt Hill with 33 seconds left, but a 3-point play by junior guard Jean Aranguren with 3.3 seconds left gave the home team a 32-30 lead going into the half time. Hill’s layup would be the last lead the Patriots enjoyed.
The Revs picked up right where they left off in the second half, going on a 9-3 run and never looking back.
Since a five-point win over the Revolutionaries in Fairfax on Jan. 19, the Patriots have lost four of their last seven games. The stretch comes after the Patriots enjoyed an 18-1 start to the season, the best in program history.
“This is a team that has won a lot of games this season, and we need to just stick together down the stretch,” Skinn said.
The Patriots have five games left in conference play, including games against heavyweights VCU and Saint Louis to close out the regular season. Mincy and company will have a stern test tonight with an ascending Dayton team that’s looking to gain ground in the race for a double bye in the A-10 tournament.
Students can register for tickets on Mason360, and the game will be nationally televised on CBS Sports Network at 7 p.m.
