George Mason wins on 75-foot heave at the buzzer
Even after slashing an eight-point deficit to one in just over a minute Saturday against Manhattan, George Mason still faced nearly insurmountable odds.
Manhattan's Shane Richards was at the foul line with two seconds remaining. The best the Patriots could hope for was Richards missing at least one free throw and giving them a look at a game-winning heave.
George Mason's prayers were answered when Richards missed the second of two free throws and sophomore forward Jalen Jenkins grabbed the rebound, took one dribble and launched 75 footer at the buzzer. Remarkably, it found all net, giving George Mason a 64-63 victory and sending the Patriots bench spilling onto the floor in celebration.
The comeback victory was especially important for George Mason because the Patriots appeared seconds away from a 1-5 start before Jenkins' shot. They lost to a Cornell team that went 2-26 last season in their season opener and dropped all three games at the Puerto Rico Tip-Off tournament last week.
A poor start this season coupled with a 20-loss campaign in George Mason's Atlantic 10 debut last year has ratcheted up the pressure on head coach Paul Hewitt to turn things around. That made Hewitt's reaction to Jenkins' heave all the more interesting. As the rest of the Patriots raced onto the court to mob Jenkins, Hewitt stood in place with his arms folded, stoic as a statue.
- - - - - - -
Jeff Eisenberg is the editor of The Dagger on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at daggerblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
