Looking to improve upon their impressive 5-1 start to the 2023-24 season, the George
Mason Patriots welcomed the visiting Highlanders from the New Jersey Institute of Technology
to town on Wednesday night for some midweek college hoops action. With NJIT sitting at 1-4,
this would appear to be one of the easier games on Mason’s schedule, but of course, no matchup
can be taken lightly.
The visitors proved that by jumping out to a quick 12-6 advantage, using an aggressive
press defense and forcing GMU’s leading scorer, Keyshawn Hall, to the bench with a pair of early
fouls. They’d remain in the lead for the majority of the first half, but Mason slowly battled back,
taking its first lead at 26-25 on a pair of Baraka Okojie free throws. They’d take a 32-31 lead into
the break, with NJIT’s Elijah Buchanan almost singlehandedly keeping them in the game as he
accounted for 20 of those 31.
Whatever head coach Tony Skinn said to his group at halftime must’ve lit a fire under
them, because Mason came out of the intermission firing on all cylinders with an avalanche of
three-pointers, forcing an NJIT timeout with the Patriots ahead 48-39. Hall unfortunately picked
up two more fouls to send him back to the sidelines, but the rest of the team was able to step up,
particularly Darius Maddox, who capped off a 7-0 run with a crowd-pleasing stepback three to
extend the advantage to 58-46 midway through the period. It would expand to a 12-0 run before
NJIT scored again, and by that point the game had been blown open. Mason took its largest lead
of the night at 75-57, and though the Highlanders briefly cut it back within single digits in the
closing minutes, the Patriots were able to cruise home to a 86-68 win with relative ease.
Skinn seemed mostly satisfied with the result, though he pointed out that his team looked
uncharacteristically unprepared during the first half. “We knew it would mean more to them and
they’d put up a fight,” he said of NJIT, which is coached by his close friend Grant Billmeier.
Ronny Polite scored 18 to lead the way while Maddox chipped in with 17, and Amari
Kelly had a double-double with 11 in both the scoring and rebounding columns. Mason shot
greater than 50% from three-point range, making nine of 16 shots from behind the arc, and the
team as a whole went 19 of 30 from the field during the second half.
The Patriots will now go on the road to face Toledo this Saturday, which should help
them prepare for their matchup next Tuesday against No. 10 ranked Tennessee and onetime
GMU coach Rick Barnes.