In college basketball, you’re always as good as your last game.
The George Mason University men began the 2025-26 season with a record of 21-3. They were in the at-large conversation. They were receiving votes in the Associated Press Top 25 poll. They had “Patriot Pressure” and “Teeth.” All was right in the world. All would always be right in the world. Nothing would ever go wrong again.
Then, they lost four in a row, all by double digits. Now everything is bad. Nothing is good. Nothing will ever be good again. After Wednesday night’s 18-point loss at St. Joseph’s, social media would have had you believe Mason wouldn’t win another game this season. Saturday’s home tilt against struggling St. Bonaventure might have been the last chance.
The Patriots put together their best performance in two months.
From early on in this one, the vibes were different than they’ve been in recent weeks. During Mason’s losing spell — and even long beforehand — their biggest problem was a habit of slow starts. But on Saturday, they scored the game’s opening eight points and led 14-2 at the first timeout. They went 8-for-13 from deep in the first half and took a 12-point lead into the break.
Then, after St. Bonaventure began the second half on a 7-0 run to crawl within five, the Patriots mashed the gas pedal to the floor. They answered with an 8-0 run of their own and extended their advantage to as much as 20 late in this much-needed get-right win.
“It’s been a long time since we punched first,” head coach Tony Skinn remarked postgame. He noted that Mason had two great days of practice after the St. Joe’s loss, with even a few scuffles to light a fire under the group.
Riley Allenspach and Masai Troutman each scored 21 points, while Jahari Long had 11 with six assists. The Patriots made 12 three-pointers and shot 48 percent from the field. On the downside, they lost Fatt Hill late in the first half to what Skinn believes is a high ankle sprain.
Elsewhere within the Mason program, the school’s women clinched a share of the regular-season Atlantic 10 title with a 65-48 road win over Duquesne. Skinn made a point to give them a shoutout immediately upon taking a seat in the media room.
Next up, the Patriots will travel to the Stuart C. Siegel Center on Tuesday to take on VCU. They beat their bitter rivals 86-80 at home back in January, but the Rams have only lost once since. It will be key for Mason to use the lessons it learned on Saturday in order to finish the season strong.
“Who we are, who we were earlier this year, we’ve got to take that down to Richmond,” Skinn said. “We’re going to need to be the best version of ourselves to have a chance down there.”
If the Patriots can win that one, they may be all the way back.
