FAIRFAX, Va. — There were a couple of moments late when UMass looked like it might produce a sequel to their wild, 2014, come-from behind win at George Mason.
But although the Minutemen had several good looks at a would-be game-changing 3-pointers, none of them fell and UMass dropped its second straight Atlantic 10 basketball game, 86-81, Wednesday at EagleBank Arena.
“That was a disappointing loss for us because we did some things halfway decent to give ourselves a chance to win,” said UMass coach Derek Kellogg, whose team fell to 10-5, 0-2 A-10. “It became a two-and-a-half minute game and in that time we didn’t come up with some loose balls and loose rebounds. They made some big plays. We had out opportunities and we made some crucial mistakes that ultimately led to them winning the basketball game.”
With just under 6 minutes left, it looked liked George Mason might pull away, building its biggest lead of the game at 69-61 after back to back treys.
But out of a UMass timeout, the Minutemen attacked. Rashaan Holloway, who led UMass with 17 points and 10 rebounds, started things by putting back his own miss. He grabbed two more offensive boards to keep a possession alive that C.J. Anderson eventually capped with a 3-pointer that cut UMass’ deficit to 69-66 with 4:52 remaining. He snared the rebound of a Marquise Moore miss at the other end and hit Luwane Pipkins with the outlet pass to start the fast break. As he went to the basked drawing defenders, Pipkins threw a behind-the-back pass to Anderson for an easy layup.
Another Mason miss, this one by Jalen Jenkins led to another Holloway board and another fast break. Pipkins (16 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists) finished this one himself to put UMass up 70-69 after nine straight points with 3:57 left.
GMU coach Dave Paulson’s timeout had the same effect Kellogg’s, had and the pendulum swung back to the Patriots. The home team put together a 10-2 surge that made it 79-72 with 1:30 left.
UMass had chances but Pipkins, Ty Flowers and Donte Clark (15 points, 7 rebounds) all missed 3-pointers that would have given it a chance.
DeJon Jarreau, who’d been quiet most of the game, came to life with six points in the final 38 seconds, but Mason made enough free throws to pull away.
“When it came down to it, we didn’t execute our plays or rebound the ball and they beat us,” Holloway said.
Marquise Moore had five of those free throws in the final two minutes and finished with 24 points, 9 rebounds and 5 assists to lead Mason (11-4, 1-1 A-10).
Teams, especially young squads, can get a false sense of confidence when shots come easy early. UMass seemed to fall victim to its early success. The Minutemen made 9 of their first 11 shots and led 31-18 with 8:46 remaining. But their shooting came back to earth allowing to Mason to chip away and eventually pull ahead 41-39 at halftime.
UMass is at VCU Saturday at 1 p.m. The Minutemen and Patriots play again at the Mullins Center on Jan. 28.