Mason Falls Short of Comeback vs. Joe’s

By Palmer Johnson

Your George Mason Patriots dropped to the Saint Joseph’s Hawks in the second round of the A10 tournament in a valiant effort. Mason was down 18, but cut it to three with the ball in crunch time.

Baraka Okojie had the game of his life, and it is a shame that he doesn’t get to associate it with a win. Okojie ended his freshman campaign with a great performance; 22 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 assists. That scoring came with efficiency too, as he shot 9-15 from the field.

HIMAKA pic.twitter.com/6tfIX5N7Fv

— By George. (@ByGeorgeGMU) March 13, 2024

Woody Newton once again stuffed the stat sheet, scoring nine points and grabbing ten rebounds. Also once again, he was a little inefficient, shooting 4-10, but Newton’s role isn’t scoring. It’s doing everything else.

WOODY NEWTON pic.twitter.com/jgELfz529R

— By George. (@ByGeorgeGMU) March 13, 2024

Amari Kelly may have had a rough last couple of minutes, but without his defense, four blocks, along with his offense, an efficient 14 points, Mason is not in that game at the end.

Kelly is giving this elimination game everything he has 🫡 pic.twitter.com/UHyZ8DKGbm

— By George. (@ByGeorgeGMU) March 13, 2024

This game had a short rotation, as Mason really only played their top six, with Keyshawn Hall and Malik Henry only getting four minutes and Austin Ball getting two.

Rasheer Fleming was brutal in this game. It felt like he made winning play after winning play, including a steal and two big offensive rebounds late. Fleming ended up with 14 points on 5-7 shooting, grabbed eight rebounds, blocked three shots, and earned a KenPom MVP. None of the box scores give him credit for a steal, but he absolutely stole the ball from Kelly.

It is kind of shocking that this team lost after holding All-A10 First Team Erik Reynolds to 9 points on 2-12 shooting. At the end of the season, Mason held all-conference guards to shockingly low volume or efficiency in back-to-back games, which I like looking forward as development as a coach from Skinn. Thank you, Jared Billups.

This is the second game of the season that Mason has lost while playing good defense, but going ice cold from three. The Patriots only had one three go in. There were 13 attempts.

Mason won the turnover, rebounding, and free throw battle, while barely being edged out by Joe’s in two-point percentage. Unfortunately, the Hawks shot 10-27 from three, way better than Mason’s 1-13. It is not often that you can look at a one stat and see why a team lost, but here it is.

Overall, it was a fun season, and one that has Mason looking at an upward trajectory with both the players and the coaching staff. This team could have gone down 18 and quit, but they clawed their way back to make it a game. They did that a lot this season, which shows me that guys play hard for Tony Skinn.

With Mason missing out on any postseason tournaments, the offseason has officially started.