DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – George Mason men’s basketball keeps stacking wins and rewriting the record book. With a dominant 92–69 victory over Ohio in Monday’s Sunshine Slam semifinals, the Patriots moved to 6–0 — the best start in school history — and did it with room to spare, leading by as many as 42.
The win pushes Mason into Tuesday’s Sunshine Slam championship game against either Florida Atlantic or Loyola Marymount. But before looking ahead, it’s worth underlining what just happened: no Patriots team has ever opened a season 6–0 until now. This is uncharted territory for the Green & Gold, and they’re getting there by overwhelming teams on both ends.
“My staff is phenomenal in the way we scout and prep our guys with information,” head coach Tony Skinn (‘06) said. “We took Ohio out of rhythm and we took care of the basketball tonight. Defensively, especially in the first half, we got after it and set the tone. I’m proud of our guys.”
George Mason jumped Ohio from the opening tip, drilling eight first-half threes and taking a 52–33 lead into the break. The Patriots finished with a season-high 14 three-pointers on 31 tries (45.2%), matched a season best with 18 assists, and coughed it up just six times — their cleanest ball-security night of the year.
Kory Mincy led the way with 22 points, splashing a career-high six threes on 11 attempts and handing out four assists in 30 minutes. Masai Troutman added 18 points on 7-of-10 shooting (a perfect 4-for-4 from deep), plus five rebounds and two assists. Jahari Long chipped in nine points and a career-best eight assists, while Riley Allenspach posted 14 points and eight boards. Fatt Hill made a strong first impression in his Mason debut, finishing with 13 points and nine rebounds.
Mason’s pace and depth tilted the floor all night. The Patriots owned the fast-break lane (18–3), won the paint (34–24), and got a big lift from the bench (39–25).
The Green & Gold hit four of their first five threes to rocket out to an 18–6 lead. Ohio briefly trimmed it to six at 26–20, but Mason answered with a 14–4 run to stretch things back out, taking a 19-point cushion into halftime. The second half was a rout: the margin ballooned to 83–41 with 11:59 to play, and Skinn was able to pull his main rotation early with the title game in mind.
Now 6–0, the Patriots are off to the best start this program has ever seen — and they’ll be playing for a tournament title next.
George Mason faces Florida Atlantic or Loyola Marymount in the Sunshine Slam championship at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday on CBS Sports Network.