NEW YORK — Christian Sengfelder scored a season-high 27 points and Fordham beat George Mason in the opening round of the Atlantic 10 tournament for the second consecutive year, 71-65, on Wednesday night.
The 12th-seeded Rams (10-20) advance to the second round to face No. 5 seed VCU on Thursday.
Sengfelder, a freshman from Germany, was 10-for-13 from the field. Mandell Thomas added 13 points.
The 13th-seeded Patriots (9-22) finished their fourth season under coach Paul Hewitt by losing 15 of 18 games. Marquise Moore and Isaiah Jackson led George Mason with 18 points each.
The Patriots cut the lead to two with three and half minutes left in the second half, but Sengfelder scored down low and Thomas made a steal and dunk that put Fordham up 60-54 with 2:52 left.
Fordham used a 6-0 run to close the first half and grab a 34-28 lead. Sengfelder had 15 points on 6-for-8 shooting.
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