Rhode Island Starters 
Thomas, House, Lawrence, Green, Brown

George Mason Starters 
Newton, O'Conor, Anderson, Haynes, Maddox

How it Happened
Rhode Island could not keep up with first-place George Mason, falling 82-67 to the Patriots Saturday afternoon.

George Mason (19-5, 10-1 A-10) used hot shooting from the outside to build a 16-point lead late in the first half. A Woody Newton 3-pointer – George Mason's eighth of the half – made the score 40-24 with 5:16 left in the period.

From there, Rhode Island (15-8, 4-7 A-10) clawed its way back, making 9-of-11 from the field to close out the half. A 10-3 run over the final 2:30 featured a pair of Jaden House drives and a hoop-and-harm three-point play from Cam Estevez to get URI within 46-40 by the break.

In the second half, George Mason gradually pulled away. Rhody struggled to get its offense started, opening the second half 4-of-17 from the field. The host Patriots used big man Jalen Haynes' interior work to wear down the Rams. He had 12 of his 16 points in the second half before fouling out.

George Mason kept the Rams at an arm's length throughout the half as it won for the ninth straight game.

Inside the Box Score

• George Mason outscored Rhode Island 33-9 from the perimeter.
• The Patriots started the game 8-for-11 from deep and finished 11-for-21.
• Rhode Island was 3-of-13 from deep.
• Forward David Fuchs led the Rams with 17 points and eight rebounds.
• Fuchs has scored in double figures in the last two games. He did so twice in his first 19 games of the season.
• Point guard Sebastian Thomas had 10 points, five assists and three rebounds.
• Guard Cam Estevez had nine points.
• Center Javonte Brown had nine points and four rebounds.
• Guard Jaden House scored eight points to go with four rebounds and three assists.
• Forward David Green had eight points and five rebounds.
• George Mason's Darius Maddox scored a game-high 24 points. He had 18 points on 6-of-7 shooting in the first half.
• Justin Begg and Maddox combined to go 7-for-10 from long range.

Up Next
Rhode Island returns to the Ryan Center to host St. Bonaventure Wednesday, Feb. 12. Game time is set for 7 p.m. on ESPN+.