The Cinderella Showdown ended with the OG Cinderella, George Mason, beating out UMBC 69-53.
Off to a great start in the first half, the Patriots lead the whole game, but let UMBC keep it close at times. Like many games at EBA this season, George Mason adjusted and came into the second half ready to seal the deal. In the words of Ibrahim aka Ron, the Patriots had a “1-0 mentality each half” and it showed.
Plagued by injuries, the Retrievers of UMBC played yet another game without their lead scorer and with another new starting lineup. Many, anticipating the return of Justin Kier into the starting five, were surprised to hear about his minor ankle injury sustained during practice. The Senior guard sat out the game, but is expected to return against TCU.
Even though both teams had their set of injured players; both recorded three players scoring double digits. Led by Jordan Miller with 17 points, Javon Greene (14 points) and Jamal Hartwell (14 points) helped the Patriots get to their eventual double digit win — their 11th of the season and 800th in program history!
Although the box score may not show it, freshman Josh Oduro showed some maturity and patience in his handling of pressure from UMBC’s 6-8 Forward Dimitrije Spasojevic. Freshman, Xavier Johnson, also had a good game with two steals, five rebounds and nine points to finish out the game.
Next up are the Horned Frogs of Texas Christian University (TCU) down in Fort Worth, Texas. The GiantKiller team will be traveling to cover the game thanks to our sponsors KMN Law Firm, LLP — make sure to subscribe to our platforms to get the latest content related to George Mason Basketball!
