FAIRFAX, Va. (AP) - St. Bonaventure went the first month of the Atlantic 10 schedule without a road win.
They’ve picked up two in four days.
Matthew Wright scored 19 of his 24 points in the second half as St. Bonaventure pulled away late for an 85-73 win over George Mason on Saturday night.
“We’ve had trouble finishing, especially on the road when the team makes a run like George Mason made the run,” Bonnies coach Mark Schmidt said. “(Tonight) we always had somebody that made a play.”
The Bonnies (15-10, 5-6 Atlantic 10), who won at Fordham Wednesday night, also got 18 and 15 points from reserves Jordan Gathers and Dion Wright, respectively.
St. Bonaventure shot 47.1 percent from the field (24-of-51) and converted 32-of-36 free throws, including 24-of-28 in the second half.
“We took care of the basketball and we made our foul shots,” said Schmidt, whose team had nine turnovers to George Mason’s 14. “When we do that we’re hard to beat.”
Wright made only one basket in the first half, but hit 4-of-7 field goal attempts after intermission and finished 12-of-13 from the line.
“We thought maybe we could get a break with a missed free throw here or there down the stretch,” Hewitt said. “He played well. They did a good job executing sets for him to attack the basket.”
George Mason’s Bryon Allen led all scorers with 26 points for the Patriots (9-16, 2-9), who had won two straight after losing their first eight games as a conference member.
Allen hit 10-of-13 field goal attempts, including 4-of-6 from 3-point range. Sherrod Wright added 20 for the Patriots, who shot 46.2 percent (24-of-52).
“We didn’t come with the same intensity as the team that won two games in a row,” Wright said.
Trailing 46-44 with 12 minutes left after a 7-0 George Mason spurt, the Bonnies went on a 9-0 run keyed by seven points from Matthew Wright.
Sherrod Wright’s 3-point play pulled the Patriots to within 62-56 with just under seven minutes left, but four straight free throws started a 13-2 Bonnies run that included a jumper by Matthew Wright to beat the shot clock
“That’s what you’ve got to do on the road if you’re going to win against a team like this in an environment like this,” Schmidt said. “You’ve got to hit those big shots at the right moment and we did tonight.”
Gathers capped the run with a 3-pointer and two free throws.
The Bonnies led by as many as 15 points and no fewer than 10 the rest of the way.
Center Youssou Ndoye, who sprained his left ankle Wednesday at Fordham, contributed 12 points and six rebounds for the Bonnies and helped hold George Mason’s two frontcourt starters to seven points.
“That big kid’s tough,” Hewitt said. “He blocked some shots early and created a presence around the rim. When we did hurt them was when we outran them.”
The Bonnies took an early six-point lead and were sparked by Dion Wright, who had 10 of his points (on 5-of-7 shooting) in the half.
George Mason rallied and briefly led by three, but St. Bonaventure eventually scored the last seven points of the half and led 33-29 at intermission.
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