Masai Troutman scored 20 points off the bench, Nick Ellington had 7 blocks, and the George Mason men’s basketball team forced 19 turnovers en route to beating Jacksonville 79-57.
The George Mason Patriots were back at home on Tuesday night, looking to improve to 5-0 for the first time since the 2019-20 season. They’d be facing the Dolphins of Jacksonville University in an Atlantic 10/Atlantic Sun showdown, and if there’s anything Mason’s past two contests have taught us, it’s that they can’t take any opponent lightly.
Slow starts were an issue against Catawba College last week and New Hampshire on Saturday, with both visitors hanging around until well into the second half. There would be no such messing around this time, though, as the Patriots scored the game’s first nine points and never trailed.
Troutman scored 12 in the first half, including a four-point play early on that put GMU ahead 13-5. The Patriots led 33-22 at the intermission, and after giving up the first four points of the second half, they used a 13-3 run to break it open.
There were a few minor issues — Mason turned the ball over 13 times and went only 22-of-35 from the free throw line — but all in all, the Patriots controlled this game from start to finish in a total team effort. Emmanuel Kanga gave GMU a 20-point lead with 8:55 to go, and it grew as large as 24 in the closing minutes before ultimately finishing at 22.
“This is a great win,” head coach Tony Skinn remarked postgame. “Right out of the gate we showed how good we can be defensively… we showed teeth.”
In addition to Troutman’s big night, Kory Mincy scored 13 points while making 3-of-4 of his three-pointers and Kanga added nine. 10 different players got on the board for the Patriots.
Next up, Mason will travel to Daytona Beach next week to compete in the Sunshine Slam MTE. They’ll play Ohio on Monday and then either Florida Atlantic or Loyola Marymount on Tuesday.
