Tulane comes up short at home against George Mason

NEW ORLEANS – Tulane University men’s basketball (8-3) dropped its first game at home this season to George Mason (10-2) 69-66 on Friday in Avron B. Fogelman Arena in the Devlin Fieldhouse. The Green Wave had a shot to tie the game in the closing moments but the deep three-pointer from Jaylen Forbes rimmed out resulting in the first loss in Uptown of the 2023-24 campaign.

Four players scored in double figures for the Wave in the defeat as Sion James led the team with 17 points. James added five assists, four rebounds, and three steals in the contest. Forbes finished with 14 points and a season-high five steals. Rounding out the leaders for Tulane were Kolby King with 12 points and three steals and Kevin Cross with 12 points and seven rebounds.

George Mason also finished with four players scoring in double figures led by the duo of Amari Kelly and Ron Polite III with 16 points each.

Tulane withstood the first punch by the Patriots fighting back after falling behind 6-0 with seven unanswered points to claim its first lead. The Green Wave and the Patriots went blow for blow through most of the first half exchanging the lead seven times. Tulane pulled ahead by as many as 13 points during an 8-0 run late in the half before taking a 40-29 advantage into the break.

The offensive momentum flipped to the Patriots to begin the second half as the Wave was outscored 16-4 in first seven minutes. Tulane managed to find some rhythm again on offense after a timeout as the teams began to go back and forth again.

The Green Wave took a 60-56 advantage with under six minutes to play, but George Mason quickly responded to pull the game even 66-66 with 2:49 remaining. In the closing minutes Tulane was unable to get a shot to fall ultimately dropping the contest to the Patriots 69-66.

Up next, Tulane will host Dillard on Friday, December 29. Tipoff between the Green Wave and the Bleu Devils is set for 1 p.m. on ESPN+.

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