George Mason gets much needed win against St. Bonaventure

The Patriots ended a three game skid with a big second half vs the Bonnies

Tony Skinn and George Mason got a much needed victory Saturday afternoon against St. Bonaventure 69-60. Mason didn’t dig themselves into a big first half hole in this outing and carried a lead into halftime against a strong Bonnies squad. The Patriots had a bit of a scoring surge in the second to take the lead for good and had some clutch three-pointers made by Darius Maddox to help seal the win. It was another solid game for Amari Kelly (13 points) and a strong rebounding effort on both ends for Mason. It didn’t come easy as Skinn went to his bench a lot in the second half to try to light a fire on offense when the Patriots were slumping; and Okojie, Newton, and Wood definitely answered the call.

It was a positive sign moving forward to see certain guys step up from the bench. Freshman Austin Ball had eight points and hit two three-pointers in just seven minutes of action. The shorter rotation has been mostly working this season but every now and then you need to call on your depth guys to step up and make plays. With still a lot of season to go they will no doubt be called upon again.

I also wouldn’t be surprised if we see freshman Baraka Okojie in the starting lineup soon. He’s been playing a lot of minutes recently and helped to provide a spark in place of Ronny Polite. Skinn may be hesitant to role with a freshman over a veteran like Polite but the Okojie seems to be standing out more of late. It’s been fun to watch the young point guard run the offense and get things moving. Whether he starts or not I would think we continue to see him for 20+ minutes game moving forward.

Now at 3-3 in the conference, the Patriots find themselves in a much better position then they were last week. They host Rhode Island Saturday and then have two tough road games at Saint Joes and UMass. They will need to go at least 2-1 during this next stretch to keep pace in the standings. Hopefully that three-game skid was the kick in the butt they needed to move forward.