ATHENS — Returning to the court following the fall finals break, the University of Georgia men’s basketball team dropped an 80-67 contest to George Mason Saturday evening before 6,432 spectators at Stegeman Coliseum.
Senior Braelen Bridges led Georgia (4-6) in scoring for the sixth time this season with 13 points and tied with junior Dalen Ridgnal for the team lead in rebounds with seven. Senior Noah Baumann tallied 11 points with three 3-pointers, his highest scoring output as a Bulldog. For the evening, the Bulldogs shot 33.9 percent from the field.
“We got it to a two-possession game,” said Georgia head coach Tom Crean following the game. “The problem for us, at times, was that we didn’t follow the game plan and defensively. That just can’t happen. We can’t be bumping the cross screen one time and not bumping it the next time. It has to be consistent. It has to be ongoing.”
George Mason (6-5) immediately set the tone with a 3-pointer from Davonte Gaines in the opening minute, foreshadowing their success from beyond the arc. Powered by Gaines, the Patriots unfurled a 14-0 run, rattling off a 19-4 run by the 14-minute mark of the first half.
Georgia responded with eight unanswered points, including a pair of baskets from Bridges, but the burst was short-lived as D’Shawn Schwartz countered with three-consecutive triples to extend the lead to 16. Following the final media break of the half, the Bulldogs narrowed the margin to six with three straight 3-pointers from sophomore Jabri Abdur-Rahim and Baumann, eventually heading to the locker room trailing 38-30.
The Patriots again opened the second half connecting from outside as Gaines and Schwartz continued to pace their offense. Oquendo returned the deficit to single-digits with an old-fashioned 3-point play, but George Mason’s Josh Oduro responded with one of his own to reinforce the advantage. Despite the Bulldogs’ efforts to cut in, the Patriot lead hovered around 10 for much of the half.
Following the under-8 timeout, a 6-1 Bulldog run brought them to within six, but George Mason hit two quick threes to go back up by 12 at the 3:56 mark. Now in the bonus, Georgia was able to reach the foul line consistently in the final moments, but the margin was too great to overcome as George Mason sealed the win.
Georgia remains home for a matchup against Western Carolina on Monday, Dec. 20 at 7 p.m. at Stegeman Coliseum.
