With time winding down in overtime, freshman Ian Boyd delivered for George Mason (4-3) to push them over James Madison (0-6) 80-77 on Saturday night.
Midway through the extra period and down by four, the Dukes had made their last three baskets. Otis Livingston II (10 points, three assists) pushed the ball into the paint and drew the attention of two Dukes, leaving the freshman guard, Boyd, the loneliest person in EagleBank Arena.
Up until this point, Boyd was 0-3 from the field with all of his points coming from the charity stripe. Without hesitation, Boyd lifted and took a three pointer from the wing.
Nothing but net, Mason now down by one.
Next possession, Boyd gets a tough defensive rebound (one of his two in the period) and is fouled on the board. Boyd (10-13 FT) hits both and gives the Patriots their first lead of overtime. Boyd would finish with 13 points and six rebounds, both career highs.
Not out of the woods yet, the Patriots needed an ice cold pull-up jumper by Marquise Moore (20 points, eight rebounds) and three more free throws to put the game away.
Proving himself to be the team’s playmaker, Moore was two rebounds away from his fifth straight double-double. He lead the team in points and rebounds.
The best thing about Moore is that he can be the go-to guy without commanding the ball. While Moore will split some duties with Livingston at running the offense, Moore scores through his backdoor cuts or penetration drives to the rim. If not, he is sure to draw the foul.
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Free throws quickly became a theme for George Mason. The team made 29 of their 38 attempts, while drawing 32 fouls from James Madison. By the end of the game, four Madison players had fouled out including two starters. The Patriots capitalized on the Dukes foul trouble early in the second half and had the Dukes on edge down low for the remainder of the game.
Two Dukes, Jackson Kent (19 points, three assists) and Shakir Brown (18 points, six assists), combined for nearly half of the team’s points with 37 and dished out nine of the team’s 15 assists. Kent went a perfect 8-8 at the line, while Brown hit four three pointers on the night.
Turnovers plagued James Madison early in the game. In the first half alone, the Dukes had 13, which allowed the Patriots to stay within striking range. Had it not been for the turnovers, Mason who was 8-27 from the field would not have kept up.
Troy Temara (three points) made his first career start for the Patriots, with Jalen Jenkins playing with flu-like symptoms coming off the bench. Still Jenkins played 31 minutes while scoring 10 points and bringing in seven rebounds, three of which being offensive.
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This was the third straight victory for the George Mason Patriots. It was the program’s 46th victory over James Madison (most over any team) in the two school’s longest all-time series.
