Hot Second Half Shooting Pushes Patriots Past Minutemen, 68-63

Team	1	2	F
George Mason	23	45	68
Massachusetts	21	42	63

George Mason

Massachusetts

AMHERST, Mass. – Rashaan Holloway posted his first double-double of the season and fourth of his career with 11 points and 11 rebounds as the University of Massachusetts men's basketball team fell in a back-and-forth battle with George Mason on Wednesday night, 68-63. Luwane Pipkins added nine points as the junior moved into 18th on the UMass all-time scoring list late in the second half after hitting back-to-back 3-pointers, passing Anthony Gurley (2008-11, 1,331 points) while bringing his career total to 1,335 points.

The Minutemen (7-10 Overall, 0-4 Atlantic 10) shot over 43-percent in the second half after connecting on just 28-percent of their attempts from the field in the first. Carl Pierre scored all 11 of his points in the second half, knocking down three 3-pointers for a UMass squad that shot 38-percent from range in the second.

George Mason (10-8 Overall, 4-1 Atlantic 10) shot 57-percent from the field in the final 20 minutes after both teams combined for just 2-of-20 shooting from 3-point range in the first half. Both sides came out of the locker room and combined for a 7-of-7 start from the field, including a 4-of-4 effort out of the gate for the Minutemen before a 1-of-6 stretch saw the Patriots take a 36-30 lead with 15 minutes remaining.

UMass got 25 points off the bench, including eight straight points as the Minutemen went on an 8-0 run behind baskets from Curtis Cobb, Djery Baptiste and Kieran Hayward. Cobb scored seven points while Hayward added six points off the bench for the Minutemen. The bench-led scoring run allowed UMass to reclaim the lead at 41-40 before a George Mason scoring run of their own put the visitors up 46-41.

The Minutemen used a stretch of three consecutive buckets by way of the 3-pointer with under 10 minutes remaining to take their largest lead of the night at 54-50 after back-to-back Pipkins triples to go along with a Hayward three. UMass connected on eight attempts from range in the second half after connecting on just one in the first 20 minutes of play.

George Mason answered back once again with a 7-0 scoring run to retake the lead and force a UMass timeout with 4:09 remaining. The Minutemen trimmed the deficit to a point coming out of the timeout on a set piece for Holloway at the rim to bring the score to 57-56, but the Patriot scoring run bloomed to a 13-2 run after UMass took its largest lead of the night to take control 63-56.

UMass steadily chipped away at the late George Mason lead, pulling within a possession after a Pierre triple with 12-seconds left before a successful Patriot trip to the line after the intentional foul put the count to a final 68-63.

The Minutemen return to the court on Saturday when they head to Richmond, Va. to take VCU at 6:30 p.m. on NBCSN.

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