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FAIRFAX, Va. - Jalen Jenkins' 75-foot heave with time expiring lifted George Mason to an improbable 64-63 victory over Manhattan at the Patriot Center.
With the win, the Patriots improve to 2-4 while the Jaspers fall to 1-4.
Playing without four regulars, Manhattan was on fire to start the game in hitting on its first four shots and 11-of-15 (.733) in jumping out to a 28-15 lead with 6:53 to play in the opening stanza.
Sophomore Tyler Wilson (Bronx, N.Y. / Cardinal Hayes) opened the game with this layup before classmate Carlton Allen (Ewing, N.Y. / Life Center Academy) converted a layup of his own after drawing an offensive foul on the other end. Then after forcing an errant GMU pass, junior Shane Richards (New York, N.Y. / York Prep) hit the first of his five three pointers to make it 7-0 while forcing a George Mason timeout with 18:03 remaining in the stanza.
After the Patriots briefly answered with a free throws, Wilson converted this layup - the fourth-straight Manhattan field goal conversion - to stretch the lead to 9-1.
Manhattan was on fire in the early going as seven different players got into the mix - including sophomore Trevor Glassman (Bedford, N.H. / New Hampton School) with this three pointer and senior Emmy Andujar (Bronx, N.Y. / Rice) with this layup. The lead would grow to a game-high 13 at 28-15 with 6:53 to play until intermission thanks to the Jaspers' second 7-0 run, which was capped by Richards' fourth three of the half.
George Mason, however, rallied to end the half on a 13-0 run while making it a 28-28 game at the break.
After halftime, Manhattan broke the deadlock with a quick 8-2 run as freshman Calvin Crawford (Middletown, N.Y. / St. Thomas More (Conn.)) opened the scoring with this three pointer and a pair from the line. The Patriots briefly answered before senior Donovan Kates (Hopkinsville, Ky. / Christian County) knocked home this three pointer to give the visitors a 36-30 lead with 16:24 remaining in the game.
GMU would rally with six-straight points in less than a minute to tie the game up at 36-36 while setting the stage for a frantic final 15 minutes of action.
After threatening all game, George Mason took its first lead at 46-41 with just over eight minutes to play thanks to a 7-0 run. However, on the ensuing possession Richards split a pair of Patriot defenders thanks to a Andujar screen and converted this three pointer, his fifth of the game, to quell the GMU spurt.
Marquise Moore briefly answered with a jumper only to see Wilson and Andujar each hit a pair of free throws to tie the game up at 48-48 with 6:26 to play. Wilson then got the defensive rebound on the ensuing possession and was fouled before hitting two more freebies. Andujar followed with this layup and Richards hit another jumper to cap a 10-0 run in giving the Jaspers a 54-48 lead with just 4:22 to play.
With the lead still at six with 19 seconds to play following a pair of Wilson free throws, Patrick Holloway hit the first George Mason triple of the day to draw the Patriots within three at 61-58. Wilson then split a pair at the line with just nine seconds remaining to again make it a two-possession game. Holloway responded with his second-straight three to cut the deficit to 62-61 with just over three seconds remaining.
After being fouled, Richards hit the first of two free throws before missing the second. On the play, Jenkins collected the rebound and fired a desperation three pointer that was ruled good after the referees went to the monitor.
Manhattan, which shot 43.9 percent (18-for-41) from the field, including 47.1 percent (8-for-17), was led by Richards' team-high 18 points and a career-best matching 15 points from Wilson to go along with a personal-best 11 free throws and seven assists. Andujar just missed a double-double, finishing with eight points and nine rebounds.
Jenkins hit for a game-high 24 points to lead the way for George Mason.
The Jaspers returns to action on Friday, Dec. 5 at Fairfield with opening tip slated for 7 p.m.
