The George Mason Patriots extended the longest active winning streak in the country to 13 games with a win over the Northern Iowa Panthers tonight. It was the second win for a local team in the ESPN Bracket Buster event as the Virginia Commonwealth Rams won last night.
The Panthers led most of the game after pulling in front of the Patriots mid-way through the first half in a game dominated by three-point shooting. George Mason made nine of 21 attempts from behind the three-point line, while UNI made an impressive 13 of 29 three-point shots.
The Patriots out-rebounded their opponents 30-22 in this road win that was much closer than the 77-71 final score. Kwadzo Ahelegbe of UNI was the game's leading scorer with 26 points, but Andre Cornelius scored 24 points and Ryan Pearson scored 21 for the Patriots. Pearson made all 13 of his free throw attempts and had 15 rebounds.
George Mason will take their 14th ranked field goal percentage in the country back home to face the Northeastern Huskies on Thursday night. And since they've won two important games this week, they might do it for the first time as a member of the top 25.