Part 1 of the ‘Two-year season’ comes to a disappointing end for the Patriots

WASHINGTON D.C. – Sometimes it is just not your night and for George Mason that came on potentially the final game of the 2017-18 season.

The Patriots ended their season in Capital One Arena against a team they beat twice in the regular season on buzzer beating threes. This time around there was not a chance for a game-winning three point shot.

Even if Mason was close enough, they lost 68-49, the three-pointer probably was not going to go down.

Shooting 2-for-25 from behind the arc, George Mason (16-17, 9-9 A-10) took themselves out of the game. Going away from running drives down the lane, or fighting offensive boards, the Patriots continued to shoot.

“Coach told us to just keep shooting those shots. If we’re open, shoot them. If we’re not open, drive it and try to create for yourself inside or create for a teammate,” Otis Livingston II said.

In particular Livingston took seven long ball shots, missing all, and Jaire Grayer took eight, making only two.

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The tall bodies of Nick Robinson (6-6), Anthony Longpre (6-10), Taylor Funk (6-9), and Pierfrancesco Oliva for St. Joe’s kept the Patriots out of the paint. Here is where Livingston was completely taken out of the game, blocking the passing lanes and packing bodies down low. He didn’t get his first field goal until two minutes into the second half.

The two tallest players for the Patriots, A.J. Wilson and Greg Calixte played a combined six minutes in the second half. The two guys, who Dave Paulsen celebrated in the win yesterday, barely had a chance to make an impact in the final 20 minutes.

“They were not as effective today, and we were back,” head coach Dave Paulsen said. “We had to try and make a comeback.”

Throughout the entire game, Mason struggled to shoot the rock. The game finished with Mason shooting 30 percent from the field. Only two players shot above .400 in the game, Calixte (2-2) and fellow freshman Javon Greene (3-7).

The loss masks Grayer’s 10th double-double of his career and ninth of the season. He led the Patriots in points (12) and rebounds (13). Livingston was held to eight points and only one assist.

And while the Patriots could not get their long ball going, they could not slow down the attack of the Hawks. They made nine three-point baskets and shot 45 percent from deep. Four Hawks scored in double figures and they outrebounded the Patriots 42-38.

This was the second-straight season the Green and Gold’s A10 Tournament run ended in the quarterfinals. The Patriots have not advanced to the semifinals of a conference tournament since the 2013 CAA Tournament.

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All players on the roster will return for the 2018-19 season. With such anticipation for next year, and the first time seeing Jared Reuter on the court, there will be the highest expectations placed on the program under Paulsen. However, it is easy to say that this season definitely moved the needle farther forward than many anticipated.

“This team has improved more than any team I’ve coached in 24 years over the course of a season,” Paulsen said. “I’m really excited and optimistic about the future of this program… [we] gave ourselves some momentum, and we’ll go from being young, small, and lacking depth to next year we’ll be older, we’ll have two seniors, we’ll have a fourth year senior transfer, we’ll have more depth, we’ll have more size, and we’ll have more competition at practice.”

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