Photo Courtesy of Mason Athletics

Overtime three-point shooting results in a win 

BY NATALIE HEAVREN

Men’s basketball opened their season with a 68-55 overtime win against Navy. 

Here are three key takeaways from the game. 

OT threes 

The excitement that may have been missing from regulation was more than made up for in overtime. 

In the five minute overtime period, the Patriots made four threes — the same number the team made in 40 minutes of regulation. 

Making threes not only opened up Mason’s offense but helped to shift the momentum in their direction. 

Resiliency

Despite scoring just 20 points in the first half and making 30 percent of their shots, the Patriots never gave up. The team fought to push the game to overtime, even after surrendering a late second-half lead.

Head coach Dave Paulsen looked at the result in an uncharacteristically positive way, saying, “To me the way I look at it is resilience. These guys showed toughness.”

Redshirt junior AJ Wilson discussed how important it was for the team to remind themselves that this game was not like any of the many they had played before. “I wouldn’t say there was any jitters in the sense it was more so just us a group, telling each other like calm down — like relax we’ve been here before. For the freshmen, it’s just another basketball game.

Everyone still ties their shoes up the same way. The ball goes in the basket the same way no matter how you shoot it.”

Defense 

The Patriots allowed 55 points in 45 minutes, including just three points during the last five minutes of the game. 

The Midshipmen shot just 36.2 percent from the floor and 20 percent from behind the arc. 

Wilson contributed all five of Mason’s blocks. The team also had nine steals from five different players.  

Though the team struggled at times, something Paulsen mentioned after the game, the path to success in future games has been clearly defined. 

Mason continues their homestand Friday night, Nov. 8, when they take on Longwood at 7 p.m.