George Mason Richmond Recap
George Mason Richmond rivalry renewed Wednesday when the two teams squared off in Fairfax for their 2nd matchup of the season. In the first matchup in Richmond on February 6th George Mason ran into a scoring buzzsaw of Jacob Gilyard and Grant Golden. Richmond won the mtachup 81-67 behind the duos combined 45 points. The patriots looked for revenge and to keep pace in the tight double bye race for the A10 tournament in Brooklyn. Coming off a loss to Duquesne the patriots made a lineup change with Jamal Hartwell II making his first career start with Justin Kier coming off the bench. Hartwell II was tasked with guarding and pressuring Gilyard throughout the game. The patriots got some much needed reinforcements with the return of Ian Boyd and Greg Calixte from injuries. The Spiders got off to a hot start with a 16-6 lead 14:49 mark of the first half. George Mason responded with a 5-0 to make it 16-11 under 16 timeout. Richmond lead for almost all of the first half but through the scoring of Jordan Miller, Ian Boyd and Jamal Hartwell II the patriots lead at the half 32-29. In the 2nd half the patriots turned up the defensive intensity behind the energy of Jamal Hartwell II holding Richmond to just 9-26 shooting in the 2nd half. Not only was his defense spectacular the entire night but Jamal Hartwell II was having a career night on the offense end. The patriots shot 55% from 3 lead by Jamal Hartwell II five 3. Through hot shooting and good defense the patriots opened the lead up to double digits and Richmond could only get as close as nine after. With a final score of 77-63 George Mason (16-12 10-5) won its 10th Atlantic 10 conference game the most in the programs 6 seasons in the league. Jamal Hartwell II finished with 15 points and limited Jacob Gilyard to just 8 points after going off for 28 the first matchup. Ian Boyd added 6 points off the bench that help spark the patriots offense late the first half. While Jordan Miller continued to be a force on the glass adding 10 rebounds 5 of which were offensive to go along with 13 points. George Mason stays close in the race for the double bye and next takes on preseason favorites Saint Louis on the road Saturday March 2nd. The game will be nationally televised on NBCSN 3:00.
