St. Joseph’s extends George Mason to double overtime, but falls, 87-85
The Hawks rallied from 12 points down in the second half and had a chance to win in the first overtime, but couldn't close out the game.
St. Joseph’s was determined to get its first victory in the Atlantic 10 and extended George Mason to two overtimes Wednesday night in an attempt to reach that goal, but the Hawks couldn’t close the deal and lost, 87-85, at EagleBank Arena in Fairfax, Va.
Taylor Funk led the Hawks (1-11, 0-6 A-10) with 19 points and Jadrian Tracey, who entered the game averaging 2.9 points, came off the bench and scored 18.
After rallying from 12 points down with 9 minutes to play to force extra time, the Hawks had a chance to win the game in the first overtime after a Jack Forrest steal, but Forrest’s layup was blocked by A.J. Wilson to send the game to a second extra period tied at 76.
The Hawks took an 81-79 lead on Tracey’s baseline drive with 3:30 left in the second overtime but the Patriots (7-6, 3-4) ran off the next seven points and went up 86-81 on Xavier Johnson’s drive down the lane with 1:49 to play.
Rahmir Moore drove in for a dunk and Forrest made the front end of a one-and-one to draw St. Joe’s to within 87-84 at the 44.5-second mark. After Wilson missed two free throws, the Patriots fouled Funk with 7.9 seconds left. Funk made the first and missed the second, with Tracey grabbing the rebound.
Coach Billy Lange called timeout with 3.2 seconds left to set up a play, but Jordan Hall lost the ball out of bounds, and the Hawks didn’t get another possession.
“If you review it, we actually had a guy open,” Lange said. “We’re learning how to execute in those situations. With all that being said, we still got the ball in, but you just can’t turn the ball over.
“That will be the one that sticks out, but we’ve got to rebound on missed free throws better. If you go back to that stuff, it’ll add up to six to eight points as well. And missed free throws, we have to be better there.”
George Mason scored 19 points off 19 offensive rebounds and outrebounded the Hawks overall, 51-40. St. Joe’s was 10 of 15 from the free-throw line.
St. Joseph’s made 13 three-point baskets in the game but went 0 for 5 in the two overtimes.
The Hawks fell behind by four midway through the first overtime but Moore sank both ends of a 1-and-1 with 53.7 seconds to play and Tracey deposited a layup off another nifty pass from Hall with 29 seconds to tie it at 76.
Lange used his bench early and often, and the non-starters combined for 43 points. In addition to Tracey’s 18 points, Moore chipped in with 10. Hall handed out 11 assists for the second straight game.
The Hawks trailed by as many as 12 in the second half and were still down, 65-56, with 4:43 to play in regulation but made five of six shots from that point in a 13-4 run that enabled them to tie the game. Tracey scored five points during the stretch and Funk drained his fourth three-point basket of the night to get the visitors to within two at 69-67.
Then with 11.1 seconds to play, Forrest converted a layup off of Hall’s 10th assist of the game, and Jordan Miller missed on Mason’s final possession to end regulation.