FAIRFAX, Va. -- The Morgan State men's basketball team was close to extending to a 3-game winning streak tonight, however they came up just a little short.
Otis Livingston II scored five of his game-high 22 points in the final two minutes to help George Mason pull away and beat Morgan State 82-75 on Wednesday night at Eagle Bank Arena. Livingston also led the Patriots with seven assists.
George Mason (3-5) rebounded from double-digit losses to Cincinnati and Baylor in the Emerald Coast Classic in Florida.
Sherwyn Devonish-Prince Jr. and Stanley Davis scored four points apiece during an 8-2 spurt to tie the game at 71 with 2:19 remaining. Livingston made a pair of free throws and converted a 3-point play as the Patriots closed on an 11-3 surge.
Livingston was 7 of 13 from the field, made all six free-throw attempts and added seven assists. Javon Greene chipped in with 17 points and Justin Kier had 14 for George Mason.
Kyson Rawls scored a career-high 18 points, and Davis had 15 points and 12 rebounds to lead Morgan State (2-4). Devonish-Prince Jr. finished with 12 points.
"I just think that we need to grow up" said MSU coach Todd Bozeman. "I thought we put ourselves in a position to win the game and we just made mistakes down at the end."
"Down two, with the ball, and we settle for a three when we had been driving the ball to the basket. It's just stuff that we have to do to grow up and that's basically where we are as a team."
Mason got off to a fast start in the beginning of the first half. Morgan State had a two-point advantage to start the game, followed by a Mason 12-1 run in the minutes to come to make it 12-3. The Bears increased their defensive pressure to full court for much off the remainder of the game. This pressure allowed Morgan State to fight back within one point of Mason at the 12:55 mark (14-13).
Morgan State continued to keep the score close, and a corner three-pointer by Rawls gave the Bears the lead (21-20) with 9:26 left in the half. Davis' Euro-step layup on a fastbreak was part of a 14-3 run to extend Morgan's lead to 32-23, which marked the largest lead of the game for the Bears.
Mason responded behind back-to-back baskets by Jamal Hartwell II -- one on a 3-pointer and another on a fastbreak layup. The Patriots finished the first half by outscoring the Bears by a 12-5 margin and took a 35-34 lead into the break.
Mason never lost the lead after the conclusion of the first half. Despite being in the lead, Morgan State didn't let Mason get away. The Bears trailed the Patriots by two (75-73) with 1:10 left in the game. But Livingston II's 3-point-play broke Mason away from Morgan St., giving the Patriots a 78-73 edge with less than a minute to go.
"We are a team that has got to get it done as a committee," Bozeman added. "Everything is by committee. That's why you see a different scorer every game and that's the kind of team that we have and we have to get used to it, and play like that. Once we get to that point then things will be different."
Morgan State travels to Charlottesville to face No. 4 Virginia (7-0) on Monday. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. at John Paul Jones Arena.
